


Two Is Better Than One

by mezzogal



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-09-16 21:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 57,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9290120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzogal/pseuds/mezzogal
Summary: Will Herondale is ready to give up on life. That is, until a certain boy enters the picture, bringing with him laughter, hope, friendship, brotherhood and chocolate cake. This is the story of two boys and their doings and shenanigans as they navigate through life. [Modern AU]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first time using AO3 though I've been quite active on fanfiction.net. Gonna put some of my stories from there to here eventually, starting with this one. Hope you all enjoy reading my stories.  
> Again, I'm not too familiar with this site, so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong and I'll do my best to fix it. Thanks guys!

**Chapter 1**

Will stood right in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge. Well, not at the middle, but at the side. On the railing, to be quite exact. He stood, perfectly balanced, looking at the churning water of the Thames, ignoring the passers-by and being ignored.

“Are you going to kill yourself?” A voice next to him asked. 

Will turned without losing his balance and saw a tall boy standing a small distance away from him. The boy was painfully thin and his hair was streaked with silver, like an old man, though he looked to be around Will’s age. His eyes had a slant to them, like an Asian’s. He stood casually even though he was burdened with a backpack slung over one shoulder and a violin case on the other. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his black school uniform trousers and stared at Will inquisitively. 

“So what if I am?” Will snapped defensively.

“Can I stay and watch?” the boy asked. He sounded far more eager than was decent. 

Will was perplexed. “No, you can’t. Go away.”

“Oh, please,” the boy pleaded. “I’ve always wondered what dying looked like, especially when one chooses to take one’s own life, and not because one is killed or old or sick.” 

“Did you just say ‘one’? Who says ‘one’ in real life?” Will asked.

The boy laughed. “Apparently I do,” he grinned. “One cannot help what one says sometimes.” 

“Now you’re just showing off!” Will exclaimed.

The boy grinned again and then inquired: “Are you planning to just step off the railing or are you going to do a dive?”

Will pulled a face at him. “None of your business. I’m not going to let you talk me out of it. Go away!”

“I’m not going to talk you out of it. I just want to watch,” the boy repeated.

“You’re sick, you know that? Positively a nutter,” Will informed him.

“Oh come on, I’m crazy because I want to watch you jump? I doubt I’m the only kid around who wants to see someone kick the bucket for real.”

Will did not deign to reply and they both stood in silence as minutes ticked by.

Finally, the boy checked his watch. “Are you going to get on with it? I haven’t got all day. I’ve got to meet my uncle in a few minutes.”

“I’ll do it when I’m good and ready. You can just shut your face.”

Will contemplated the water again. He had left his house earlier that day with a steely resolve to throw himself into the river after school, so he was not sure why it was taking him so long to actually do it.

He heard the boy sigh behind him.

“Look, why don’t you just go away?” Will shouted. “I don’t want you here. You’re so irritating.”

“That’s so rude.”

Will gritted his teeth. This boy was getting on his nerves, but, for a strange reason, Will liked it. It was nice to have someone who completely did not care. He wanted to know more about this strange boy. So he turned around and hopped off the railing.

The boy looked disappointed. “Changed your mind?” he asked.

“It’s your fault.”

“How is it my fault? I told you I wanted to see you jump off.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to do it any more,” Will said gruffly. “And I blame you.”

“I apologise,” the boy said. “Perhaps I can make it up to you. I’m supposed to meet my uncle for tea. Why don’t you join us? There’ll be scones and cake and things like that.”

“I like chocolate cake.”

“Then chocolate cake you shall have,” the boy declared. He pulled a hand out of his pocket and extended it. “I’m Jem Carstairs, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Will Herondale.”

They shook hands solemnly. “Nice to meet you, Will,” Jem said. “Come on, this way.” He led Will across the bridge and through the city. They ended at a little café which was tucked in a corner on the ground floor of a big office building. It was a small café with wooden tables, white chairs and pop art posters hanging on the wall.

Jem strode in and stood looking at the menu which hung over the counter. “What do you want, Will?” he asked.

“Are you really buying me tea?” Will clarified.

“Yes.”

Will studied the menu. There were many interesting-looking teas, besides the usual Earl Grey and Darjeeling. “I’ll take Dragon Well tea,” he decided, picking the one that sounded most exotic.

Jem nodded and went to the counter. “One Dragon Well tea, one Japanese sencha, one Belgian chocolate cake and one caramel shortbread, please,” he ordered. He handed over the money and led Will to the long table facing the window. Small pots of cacti were placed at intervals along the table, together with bowls of sugar cubes.

The two boys sat in amiable silence for a while. Then Will asked: “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Jem raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

“You did just almost see someone jump off a bridge. Most people would ask why.”

“I figured you’d tell me if you wanted me to know.”

Will frowned. This lack of curiosity was new to him. Usually people were constantly hounding him and stifling him with their questions. He was bursting with questions for this strange boy, but he decided to hold his tongue, just as Jem had done for him.

The tea arrived in two little pots. Will poured out his tea and was disappointed to find that there was nothing dragony about it – it was just a type of green tea.

“You can eat the leaves too, you know?” Jem pointed to some tea leaves which had flowed out with the liquid. “They’re really good. My mother used to fry them with eggs to make an omelette, but you can eat them raw too.”

Will had not known that. He dunked his fingers into the hot tea and pulled out a leaf. Gingerly, he put it between his teeth and bit down. It was not a bad flavour. But he preferred his chocolate cake, which he happily attacked with his fork. Jem was eating his shortbread much more slowly, and did not look like he was enjoying it.

“I thought you were meeting your uncle,” Will said. “Shouldn’t we wait for him?”

“I don’t know. He’s often late,” Jem replied. “I usually hang around here and wait for him. His office is upstairs.”

“You come here to meet him often?”

“Sometimes,” Jem replied. “But, as I said, he’s usually late. He’s not used to taking care of a kid.”

This was such a strange statement that Will could not help but ask: “What do you mean? Why does your uncle have to take care of you?”

“My parents are dead,” Jem said simply. “I live with my uncle now.”

“I’m sorry,” Will said sympathetically. “How did they die?”

Jem ducked his head, and a look of pain crossed his features for a moment. “They were killed.”

Will’s eyes widened. “By who?” Then he immediately regretted his question. “I’m sorry. Don’t answer that; you clearly don’t like to talk about it.”

“Thank you,” Jem said, giving him a shy smile.

Will smiled back, and pushed a portion of chocolate cake over to Jem as a way of commiserating with his new friend. Jem was certainly not an ordinary boy, and Will was eager to get to know him.

 


	2. 2

**Chapter 2**

Though Will had shelved his idea of throwing himself off a bridge, he still could not stop getting himself into trouble. Which would explain why, when he was walking around Stockwell – a dodgy, unsafe neighbourhood – dressed in his Westminster City School uniform, he was just asking to get mugged.

He was not quite sure how he ended up in that neighbourhood in the first place. These days, he never wanted to go home after school, and returned only when he absolutely had to at night. So, to pass the time, he’d get on the Tube and ride until he felt like getting off, and then wander around the vicinity.

He had seen the gang of six boys following him ever since he left the Tube station. The boys were older than he was, dressed in baggy tshirts and jeans. They had been smoking, drinking and harassing people who tried to enter or leave the station. Everyone was giving them a wide berth, except for Will, of course, who walked straight through them.

The boys tailed him, and Will led them round and round the neighbourhood as he meandered his way through the streets and alleys. He felt them behind him, slowly getting closer.

“Oi! Posh boy, wotcher doin’ ‘ere?” one of them shouted at him.

“Maybe ‘e’s lost,” another one speculated loudly. “Yer lost posh boy? Need ‘elp copping somewhere?”

“I wouldn’t ask for help from the likes of you,” Will scoffed.

Another boy nudged his fellow in the chest. “Did yer ‘ear that fellas, eh? He don’t want ‘elp from da likes of us. Finks ‘e’s too good and ‘igh and mighty for da likes of us.”

“Yer fink yer too mint for us, eh, posh boy?” someone else challenged.

“I don’t think. I know,” Will insulted. The gang let out a collective sound of disbelief.

“He ‘ave a looks tired, right, don’t yer fink lads?” another asked. “Maybe we should ‘elp relieve ‘im of ‘is ‘eavy burden.”

The others agreed. “’E needs a massage too, to ease ‘is po’ tired self.”

By the time Will realised what was happening, he was set upon by the six boys. They pulled him into an alley where they proceeded to rip off his blazer and tie, and punch him repeatedly in the stomach.

There was no way he could fight back, as they greatly outnumbered him, and he did not know any self-defence moves. He kicked out and tried to throw some punches but they were all ineffectual. The gang, used to fighting, evaded his blows easily.

Will curled up on the ground and tried to protect his head, as he thought he should do. The gang laughed at him and continued to rain punches and kicks on him. He took the beating but he felt detached from the pain.

Others in the gang went through his pockets and backpack. They took his wallet and electronic devices, and threw his books and papers all over the alley.

“Hey!” came a loud shout from the mouth of the alley. “Leave him alone.”

The blows stopped and Will heard one of them say: “Leg it, boy. This ain’t yer beef.”

“I’m not going to allow you to keep hurting him,” the voice said calmly.

Will looked up and saw one of the gang members advance on the boy in the street. The other boy looked familiar – tall and thin, with hair streaked silver. Will was startled out of his detachment when he realised that it was Jem. _What was Jem doing there?_ he wondered. He thought of calling out a warning to Jem to leave; there was no sense in both of them getting beaten up.

But Jem clearly had no intention of leaving. The gang member drew his fist back to punch him, but Jem just stepped back, so his body was angled, and moved his arm up to redirect the punch away. The gang member, not having hit his target, was thrown off balance, and Jem took advantage of it to hit him across the back and knee him in the groin.

The other gang members came towards Jem, shouting curses and threats. Jem reacted to none of them. Instead, with chilling calmness, he reached up over his shoulder and pulled out a sword from a harness he had been wearing on his back. The sword looked strange – the blade was a long thin rod rather than a flat blade. Will was stunned by this unexpected sight, and the gang members hesitated.

Then one of them drew out a knife. “I got a shank too,” he declared.

Jem took a stance. “Come on then,” he challenged, holding the sword out in front of him.

The gang member charged Jem with the knife. Jem moved so fast that in less than five seconds, that gang member was disarmed and lying on the ground as well.

“Give him back his things,” Jem ordered to the others. He held up his sword threateningly. Even though there were four gang members left, they surrendered and emptied their pockets of Will’s belongings. “Now go,” Jem said, lowering his sword and allowing the boys to dart past him and out of the alley.

Jem sheathed his sword and went up to Will. “Good god, Will, I didn’t know it was you,” Jem exclaimed when he got closer. “You look terrible.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not exactly a supermodel yourself,” Will replied snidely. He felt blood in his mouth from where his teeth had cut the inside of his cheek. His lip stung and everything was aching. Jem helped him up but the pain from the beating caused him to be unsteady on his feet. “What the hell was that? Why are you walking around with a bloody sword?”

“It’s not a sword; it’s an epee,” Jem explained. “Used in fencing. I was at my fencing class earlier.”

“And they were calling _me_ the posh boy,” Will muttered.

“Your books are all filthy,” Jem said, looking around at Will’s belongings. The books were all stained with dirty black water, but Will just stuffed them back in his bag.

“I don’t care,” he said. Then, using the wall as a support, he limped out of the alley.

“Will,” Jem called after him. “The Tube’s the other way.”

“What makes you think I’m going to the Tube?” Will called back.

“You’re injured. You should go home,” Jem advised.

Will ignored his friend and kept walking. He did not want to go home. He sensed Jem following behind him. “You don’t have to follow me,” he said as he walked.

“Yes, I do,” Jem insisted. “Don’t worry, I won’t disturb your grand plan. Just think of me as your friendly shadow.”

“I’ve already got a shadow. I don’t need another one.”

“Two is better than one.”

“Not where shadows are concerned. Haven’t you watched Doctor Who? Two shadows means the Vashta Nerada creatures are going to eat you.”

Jem laughed and said nothing. The two boys had talked about Doctor Who, and Will had been horrified to discover that Jem did not watch much television and so knew almost nothing about that wonderful British TV classic.

The boys walked in silence for nearly 20 minutes. Will was feeling extremely dizzy by then – blood loss and shock were beginning to take a toll on him. He managed to make it to a low wall and sat down. He then bent over and vomited on the pavement.

Jem was there immediately. “Will, please, let me take you home,” he pleaded softly.

Will looked at his friend’s anxious face and relented. “Okay,” he agreed.

Jem flagged down a taxi and helped Will into it before climbing in himself. Will gave the driver an address in Belgravia and they drove off. The boys did not talk on the way; in any case, Will suspected that he might throw up again if he opened his mouth. Instead, he leaned against the taxi door and shut his eyes, trying to quell the wave of nausea. Jem took hold of his hand, and his presence helped to steady him.

The taxi pulled up outside an elegant four-storey townhouse. As Jem paid the driver, Will staggered out and immediately vomited all over a beautiful decorative shrubbery outside one of the houses. Jem assumed this was Will’s home and rang the doorbell.

A girl, a few years younger than Will, opened the door. She took one look at the shrubbery and declared: “Oh boy, Will, Mam is going to _kill_ you. You know she loves those plants.”

“Shut up, Cecily,” Will snarled, using his tie to wipe traces of vomit away from his mouth.

“Why are you all bruised and bloody? Were you in a fight again?” Cecily inquired. She looked exactly like Will – she had the same black hair and stormy blue eyes. Jem assumed this was Will’s sister.

“He was mugged,” Jem answered before Will could give another rude reply. “They left before they could take anything, but they beat him up quite badly.”

Cecily tutted. “Will, Mam told you not to go walking around and attracting attention. She’s going to kill you twice. And you’ve ruined your uniform; it was new.”

“Perhaps you could help him in and get him some medical attention?” Jem suggested delicately.

Cecily turned and called to someone inside the house. An older man came out and took hold of Will’s arm. Will shook it free. “No. I can walk, Thomas.” He took a few steps before he fell against the wall. Thomas reached out to help him but Will backed away. “I said I can do it!” he snapped.

Jem watched Will stagger into the house. He heard more shouting from inside. In all the commotion, the door closed and Jem slowly walked away. On his way out, he poured a bottle of water over the shrubbery in an attempt to clean it up a little. It did not help.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Amid all the shouting and reprimands, the doctor was summoned to patch Will up. He gave Will some muscle relaxants, which sent the boy to sleep almost immediately.

When Will awoke, he turned to look at his bedside clock. It was just past 1am. The whole house was quiet; just the way he liked it. He lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Will lived in the attic room of the townhouse. Even though he hated to come home, he loved his room. He had lived in it since he was a young boy. 

The room took up the entire floor, and was a big open space. Bookshelves lined the walls, all stuffed full of books, ranging from Enid Blyton stories to thrillers, comic books and classics. The Herondale children loved to come up here to read, and sometimes re-enacted their favourite scenes. Several years ago, their father had a thick carpet put in to muffle the sound of all their stomping about.

The carpet also helped to muffle the sound of Will banging away at his drum set. Will now tapped out a rhythm on a cymbal using his fingers. The sound reminded him of when he and his sisters pretended to be in a band, and spent hours attempting to make music up there. Those were happier days, when he still had two sisters.

The family had been irreversibly changed that past summer, when the Herondales were at their country house in Wales. Will had discovered an old motorcycle hidden in the back of the garage, and he made his elder sister Ella help him take it out and refurbish it. He then wanted to take it out for a ride, but Ella forbade him, saying he was too young; he did not even have a driving licence for a car, let alone a motorcycle.

She had relented after his many pleadings and said that she would drive the bike while he rode behind her. Will had been overjoyed and had clung to his sister in a mixture of excitement and terror as they zoomed around the estate. 

Then it all went wrong. The bike gave an awful lurch and the world suddenly flipped upside down into a chaotic jumble of arms, legs, metal and wood. There was blood everywhere. So much blood. 

Later, when Will woke up in hospital, he was told about the accident. Because he had been wearing the only helmet – as Ella had insisted that he do – he had escaped major injury. Ella, on the other hand, had suffered bad head and neck trauma when they had been flung from the bike. She was currently in a coma in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

Will did not recognise her when he was taken to see her. They had shaved her hair off to operate on her brain, and there were so many tubes and monitors all over her face and body. He had stood there in stony silence, staring at this person that they said was his sister.

Ella did not wake up from the coma and died two days later. The funeral was horrible. There was a storm and everyone was soaked. He remembered his family and friends standing around in the graveyard, with all their black finery spattered with mud and sodden with rain. The petals had all fallen off the flowers with the force of the downpour, and the minister struggled to read the service, fighting against the wind that blew at the pages of his book and made his robe billow out.

Will did not mind the rain. It reflected his feelings adequately, and hid the fact that he was sobbing his eyes out. He stood apart from his family, right at the back, leaning against someone’s gravestone. No one asked him to come forward. He could see Ella’s coffin through a gap in the mourners. They lowered it down into the grave, where it landed with a loud splash. 

Will had dashed forward then, in a mad attempt to rescue his sister from being dumped into a grave full of muddy rainwater. Someone caught hold of him and attempted to drag him away. He fought the person, screaming all the while that they couldn’t leave Ella there. He fell into the mud and struggled to get up. His father grabbed him by the collar and hit him across the face, causing him to cut his lip against his teeth.

The funeral was not the worst thing that Will had to endure. The worst was afterwards and the silence from his family. After his outburst at the funeral, no one said anything about the accident, not to him, at least. But Will could feel everyone silently reproaching him. This was worse than the yelling he had expected. It was his fault that Ella had died. He was the one who wanted to ride that bike. It should have been him in that grave, not his lovely sister. But no one spoke about it, and Will just hung his head and kept quiet too.

It was not too bad at the country house; there was lots of space there to avoid everyone. When they moved back to London when the new school year started, the house felt so small. Every time Will moved, it felt like he bumped into his family members. And each time, they looked at him with a different attitude. They never blamed him out loud, but they held him responsible, nevertheless.

Will grit his teeth as his mind brought back all the hurt and pain. He flung himself onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. It had been nearly four months since Ella’s death. Every day was torture for him. He felt so alone that he would have liked to burst into tears.

Then, his phone beeped. It was a reminder that he had unread notifications. He picked up his phone and unlocked it. It was a text that Jem had sent him earlier: “Hi, hope you feel better. :)” 

Will smiled as he looked at Jem’s profile picture – a simple picture of the boy grinning at the camera. Jem was the first friend he had made since that horrible time. He did not have many friends. The boys he knew from school never seemed to be really suited to him. But Jem was different. Will never had to put on an act with him. He could be his true self. With that thought in mind, he pressed his phone buttons to call his friend. 

The dialling tone was maddening. It rang all the way through once before he heard the automatic voice message saying there was no response. Undeterred, Will dialled again.

This time, the dialling was cut off half way. Will stared at his phone. Did his friend just reject his call? He felt oddly hurt at that thought.

Then Jem sent a text: “Will, it’s 1am. Can’t talk now. Text only.”

Will smiled with relief and texted back: “Got a girl in your bed? ;)”

Jem: “I wish. But, nope. Why aren’t you asleep? How are you feeling?”

Will: “Still alive, but just barely. Massive blood loss. Death could be imminent. Pity you aren’t here to see it.”

Jem: “Haha! Seriously though, why are you calling me in the middle of the night?”

Will: “Doc gave me meds. I just woke up. If you aren’t sharing your bed with anyone, why can’t you talk?”

Jem: “It’s 1am. My body isn’t awake enough to talk. I’m not quite sure that I’m awake enough to text either. I apologise for any strange spelling or grammar mistakes.”

Will: “One’s friends will not hold one’s grammar mistakes against one.”

Jem: “Haha!”

Will: “I got grounded. For a whole month. I’m to be driven to school in the morning and driven straight home afterwards. No hanging out, no wandering around. I’m going to die in here.”

Jem: “It’s just a month. It’ll be over soon.”

Will: “Not soon enough. By the way, you were so badass today. Will you teach me how to fight?”

Jem: “That might be tough, seeing as you’re grounded.”

Will: “You can come over. There’s plenty of space. And you can have dinner and then Thomas can drive you home. Where do you live?”

Jem: “Ealing. I don’t think I can come every day. I have classes and homework.”

Will: “I have homework too. We can do it together.”

There was such a long pause after that message that Will wondered if Jem had fallen asleep again. He sent another message: “Will you come and visit me?” 

There was no reply. Will stared at his phone as the minutes ticked by. Finally, just as he was deciding to go back to sleep and quit bothering Jem, a text came in: “Okay. That would be nice.”

Will smiled. Suddenly, in the midst of his dark life, there was light at the end of the tunnel after all.


	4. Chapter 4

True to his parents’ edict, Thomas had been standing at the school gate to pick Will up after his classes and drive him home. Will sulked the entire way back and went straight to his room to brood some more. 

He threw his school bag into a corner so he did not have to see it. His ruined books had been another source of humiliation that day in school. The Herondale’s maid, Bridget, had attempted to salvage his books after they had been soaked in water the night before. She did this by putting them all into the oven and baking them for an hour. The problem was that she had set the heat too high and baked them for too long. So Will ended up with stained books that had bone dry and brittle pages and warped covers. All his classmates laughed when they saw it.

He moped about in his room for the next hour, angrily flipping through the pages of a novel but not absorbing any of the words. Then, he heard the front door bell ring and he dashed down quicker than anyone had ever seen him do.

Thomas had opened the door. Standing shyly outside was Jem, dressed in his school uniform again and carrying his backpack.

“You came!” Will exclaimed happily.

“Will, who’s this?” Thomas asked.

“My friend, Jem,” Will explained.

“I don’t know about this, Will, you’re supposed to be grounded,” Thomas said doubtfully.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to stay in, just like I’m meant to,” Will said. He reached out, grabbed Jem’s hand and pulled his friend in. “Come on!”

“Are you sure this is alright?” Jem asked as Will led him through the house.

“Sure it is. Anyway, what are they going to do? Throw you out?”

Cecily was standing at the third floor landing. “What’s going on?” she called down to her brother. “What’s all the commotion?”

“None of your business,” Will told her as he went past. 

Cecily caught sight of Jem and blushed hard. Will did not give either of them a chance to speak and he rushed past and up to his attic room.

Jem gently put his bag down and looked around the room. “You have an amazing room,” he remarked. “I think it’s bigger than my uncle’s entire house.”

Will laughed. “I forgot, do you want a drink or something?” he asked.

Jem shook his head. “I’m good,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many books in one place and it isn’t the library or a book shop.”

“Herondales like books.”

Jem continued to walk around the room. He stopped at the drum set. “You play?” he asked.

“I… make noise,” Will admitted.

Jem laughed. “Maybe we can jam someday.”

Will brightened up. “That’ll be fun.”

“What do you want to do now? Homework?”

Will made a face. “No! You said you’d teach me how to fight.”

“If you look back at your texts, I never actually said I would,” Jem corrected. “However, I suppose I shall teach you some basics today. But you must promise me you won’t use it unless you really have to.”

“I promise!” 

Jem looked at his watch. “How about, half an hour of sparring, and then homework? It’s got to be done eventually.”

Will grimaced again. “Just half an hour? We could go longer.”

“I don’t want us tired out,” Jem said. 

“I won’t be tired!”

“No, but I might be,” Jem admitted softly. Then, in a louder voice, he quipped: “I’m wasted in marathon sessions. No stamina.”

“You’re like a cheetah,” Will noted. Jem looked inquiringly at him. He explained: “You know, cheetahs? They can run really fast but after one spurt they’ve got to sleep for the rest of the day.”

Jem shook his head in amusement, then took off his tie and blazer and untucked his shirt. He and Will stood facing each other in the empty space near the middle of the room. For the next half hour, he taught Will the proper stance to keep himself steady, as well as how to throw and deflect a punch. Will recognised the move Jem had used on the gang member the day before.

Jem moved fast and his punches were intense. He had given in to Will and extended the session another 10 minutes. But Will saw the toll it took on his friend. True to his prediction, Jem was tired by the end of the session, though he tried not to show it.

The two boys lay down on the thick carpet, heedless of their sweaty state. After a few minutes, Jem asked in a choked voice: “May I use your toilet?”

“Sure,” Will replied. He instructed Jem on where the toilet was and watched as his friend pulled a pouch from his backpack and staggered downstairs. The other boy looked rather pale and breathless. Will decided to get up and follow him, as he was not sure he would make it to the toilet and back safely.

He leaned against the opposite wall and waited. At first, it was quiet. The toilet door was rather thick, so Will did not expect to hear anything. But then, he heard Jem coughing. These were intense hacking coughs that startled Will and made him wonder if Jem was about to drop dead.

He could not stand it and knocked on the door. “Jem? Are you okay?” he called in concern.

It took his friend a while to answer, but he finally heard: “Fine.”

The door opened and Jem emerged. He looked so normal that Will was startled. “Are you okay?” he asked again. “You… it sounded like you were dying in there.”

Jem smiled wanly. “I apologise. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. It sounds worse than it is,” Jem deflected. 

“Are you sick?” Will asked.

“Rest assured, I’m not going to expire right this second,” Jem said. He gave Will another small smile. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Will respected that and left the subject alone. The two boys trudged back upstairs to do their homework. Jem seemed to be all right for the next hour that they spent together. Will kept giving him sideway glances, as though expecting something dramatic to happen. But it was all so normal.

Ever since Ella had died, Will questioned a lot of his assumptions about life and youth. He had always assumed that everything and everyone was invincible. Newspaper reports and novels talking about death and dying people were all so remote from him. Surely they did not apply to the people he knew. In his own world, everyone lived forever.

And then his sister had proved otherwise. She died and Will’s world was knocked a kilter. People were not invincible after all. People were vulnerable. People could die and leave him.

Now, he looked at Jem and wondered what was wrong. Fifteen-year-old boys did not get tired after just half an hour of activity. They did not cough like their lungs were going to explode out of their chests. They did not have this kind of fragility that he now saw in Jem.

For the first time, he began to worry. Was it just as Jem said – that he simply had no stamina? But Jem did plenty of exercise and activity, what with his fighting and fencing. The morbid side of him wanted to ask Jem directly if he was dying; but he was afraid to know the answer. Just as Jem puzzled over his maths homework, Will puzzled over his friend, trying to make sense of this situation.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next month, Jem continued to visit Will regularly. He would arrive after his classes, spend some time teaching Will how to fight and then do homework with Will. On weekends, he came and spent hours jamming with his violin and Will’s drum set.

Will’s sister Cecily was always there when he arrived, fighting with Will over who would open the door. So far, Jem had not had much occasion to speak to the younger girl, but he did notice that when they were in the same room, she often followed him around with her eyes. She sometimes came to jam with him and Will, singing along to the music and smiling shyly at Jem.

Will never formally acknowledged Cecily’s presence. Jem had once even caught them in an argument, in which he heard Will declare: “Jem’s my friend, not yours; stop trying to butt in where you’re not wanted.”

As the two boys lazed in front of the fire in Will’s room – for the days were getting colder and Will thought it would be a good idea to have a fire instead of the central heating – Jem said: “You know, you should be kinder to Cecily. She’s your sister after all.”

Will looked over at Jem. “You’re lucky you don’t have a sister. They’re complete pains in the arses.”

“She seems sweet.”

“She looks like an angel but she’s really a little terror. I’m waiting for the right time to enact my master plan to tie her up and feed her to the ducks in Hyde Park.”

“Ducks?” 

“Spawns of Satan, the lot of them,” Will affirmed solemnly.

“Ducks??”

“Will you stop saying that word? It gives me the willies.”

“Ducks?” Jem repeated, struggling to suppress his giggles.

Will rolled over and pounced on Jem. The two boys wrestled and Will won out of sheer strength. “I win! No more talking about those demonic creatures.”

Jem looked like he wanted to laugh again, but he straightened his face with a great amount of effort. “We were talking about your sister,” Jem continued. “I think she fancies me.”

Will burst into laughter. “Fancies you? Cecily? That’s disgusting!”

“Come on, I’m sure I’m not as monstrous as that. She’s a sweet girl, as I said. I’ve noticed that she likes to hang around us.”

“Do you fancy her too?”

“No, she’s 12,” Jem said, rolling his eyes as though Will’s question was infinitely stupid. “She’ll be a nice girlfriend for someone someday, but I don’t think that person is me.”

“The boy who decides to engage in funny business with my sister should be prepared to have his legs broken,” Will vowed.

“You see, I knew you liked her, really,” Jem teased, nudging his friend. Will shoved him right back.

They settled down again and listened to the crackling of the fire. “Your one month grounding is almost up,” Jem said conversationally.

“Yeah. Sweet freedom. The world is mine again,” Will said, sweeping his arms out expansively. “I can’t wait to go out and wander the streets like a… a… cloud.”

“Cloud?”

“You really should read more, Jem,” Will said. “Wordsworth. ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills.’”

“Are you lonely, Will?” Jem asked, propping himself up on his elbow and looking over at his friend. “You have a loving family – parents, a sister… I can’t imagine that you’re lonely.”

“’A lonely man in the midst of a crowd is the loneliest man of all.’ C R Clark.”

“Who’s C R Clark?” 

“Damned if I know. I read it on the Internet.”

Jem shrugged and settled back down again. “I’d often wished I had a sibling.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got two and I don’t recommend it.”

“Two?” 

Will cursed his slip of the tongue. “One,” he amended, but the damage had been done.

“Will…”

Will sat up straight and stared into the fire. Then he pointed at a picture over the mantle: “See that picture?” 

Jem looked at it. He had seen it before – it showed Will and Cecily and another girl standing on a porch and pulling funny faces at the camera. He had always assumed the other girl was a cousin.

“That’s Ella. She’s… was… my elder sister.” 

“Was?”

“She died. This past July.” Without really meaning to, Will poured out the entire story of the accident.

Jem listened without interruption until Will finished. “I’m so sorry, Will,” he said. “You mustn’t blame yourself. Things happen. That’s just the way of life.”

“If I didn’t badger her to let me take out that bike, she would be still alive,” Will said. 

“Perhaps. And perhaps you would then be the one who’s dead,” Jem pointed out. 

“I deserve it.”

“Do you?”

“You saw me trying to jump off a bridge. I think that’s enough indication of how I feel,” Will reminded Jem.

“I saw you standing on the railing of a bridge,” Jem clarified. “And then you came down.”

“I was lured by the promise of cake. Why are you so optimistic?”

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

Will ignored his remark. “Ella was always better than me,” he said. “I’m the black sheep of the family. The blight upon my parents’ perfect life. Ella was perfect, you know? She was pretty and smart and was going to study at Cambridge.”

“You can do that too.”

“No I can’t. I’m a failure. You’ve seen me trying to do homework,” Will griped. This was true. Jem often had to help Will complete his assignments and even tutor him, for the boy usually did not have a clue about what was going on.

“I didn’t mean school work,” Jem said. “I meant… being a better person than you make yourself out to be. You’re self-destructing. You’re wallowing in self-pity and letting yourself settle for mediocrity, Will. And you’re better than that. I look at you, and I see a bright and brilliant person. Why do you think I stopped at the bridge that day?”

“You said you wanted to see what dying looked like.”

“I know what dying looks like,” Jem said curtly. “And I don’t want to see any more death. I was terrified you would take your life in front of me. I wanted to save you. You said you didn’t want to be talked out of it, so I did the opposite and agreed with everything you said. I read about it on the Internet. By turning one’s beliefs on their head, it makes one reconsider how one really feels.”

“You sneaky bastard!” Will exclaimed and began to pummel Jem again. The serious moment passed, but Will remembered everything Jem had said to him. It was the first time anyone said that they saw potential in him. He felt secretly pleased that Jem had stopped him from killing himself.


	6. Chapter 6

“You’re coming for the bonfire tomorrow night, right, Jem?” Will suddenly asked as the two boys were doing homework together in Will’s attic room. Will’s month of being grounded was up, but he and Jem still hung out almost every day.

“Bonfire? What bonfire?” Jem asked in surprise.

“It’s Bonfire Night!” Will explained enthusiastically. “You know? ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November’ thing?”

“Sure, I know about Guy Fawkes. What’s this about a bonfire?”

Will explained with exaggerated patience about the big event that was being held in the Belgrave Square Garden the following night. The residents of the Belgravia area organised it annually, and it included food, fireworks, games and a magnificent bonfire with a Guy Fawkes effigy. 

“You’re coming, right?” Will repeated.

Jem slowly said: “I don’t know. I… prefer not to be out so late.”

“Scared of the dark?” Will teased. “Come on, it’ll be fun. And it’s not that late. You can ask your uncle along too, if he’s the one objecting to you hanging out at night. Please? It’d be much more fun with you around.”

Jem looked at his friend’s eager expression and did not have the heart to turn him down. “Ok, I’ll ask my uncle,” he agreed.

Will whooped loudly in joy. He always enjoyed Bonfire Night, and the fact that he could share it with a friend this time made him look forward to the event even more.

The next evening, Will went early to Belgrave Square Garden. It was a patch of land surrounded by many international embassies. A small forest bordered the square but there was an open space right in the middle. Tonight, the trees would be full of people playing games. The area closest to the open space hosted some makeshift little stalls selling trinkets like Guy Fawkes masks, and food like hot dogs, chips, soup, kebabs and a variety of desserts.

But the bonfire was the main attraction. There were men setting up now, placing faggots of wood just so, so that the bonfire would flame up at the right time. Next to them was a huge effigy of Guy Fawkes; this year, they dressed it up in an old business suit and stuffed it with a mixture of rags and newspapers. A box of fireworks was also there, though placed safely away from where the flames would be.

The sky was darkening and people were beginning to arrive. Will bought himself kebab and chips and began to wander around. Some of the younger children were tossing rings made of linked up glow sticks. Pieces of blow up furniture dotted the area, with glow sticks placed inside to make them stand out. 

Elsewhere, someone had hung Christmas lights and set tea lights down to make a little fairy grotto. Some teenagers Will didn’t know had already claimed the space and were sitting around smoking. Will avoided them; he didn’t want to create a scene that night.

Smaller bonfires had been lit around the square, on which were roasting marshmallows, sausages and potatoes wrapped in foil. The smell of the roast sausages made Will’s mouth water.

The sky was now completely dark, and the festivities would soon officially begin. Will began to feel anxious. He still had not found Jem. He hoped his friend had not changed his mind about coming. He heard someone announcing over the loudspeaker for everyone to gather, so he headed over to the open space. 

Everyone was clustering around the unlit bonfire, which was piled with faggots of wood almost as high as a man was tall. The space was lit only by light spilling from the shops. Some people in the crowd dressed in Victorian outfits and some carried candles and sparklers. Will scanned the crowd. He spotted his family close to him; Cecily saw him but pointedly ignored him. He saw some boys he knew from school. These boys gestured for Will to join them but he politely shook his head.

Finally, near the outer edge of the crowd, he spotted the tall boy who had silver-streaked hair. Will pushed his way through the crowd and over to Jem. Jem was dressed warmly and had a cheerful-looking red scarf wrapped around his neck. He was standing with a stocky blond man and a slim Middle-Eastern woman.

“Hello, Will,” Jem greeted when he saw Will emerge from the press. “I thought I’d never find you in this crowd.”

“I’m so glad you came!” Will exclaimed. He looked inquiringly at the two adults.

“This is Uncle Elias, and his girlfriend, Colette,” Jem introduced. “Uncle, this is Will.”

“Friend, just friend,” Colette corrected, blushing as she did so. “It’s nice to meet you, Will. Jem’s told us a lot about you.”

“Don’t believe a word he says,” Will joked as he shook their hands.

“Why don’t you and Will run along?” Elias suggested to Jem.

Jem nodded and detached from his uncle’s company. Will pulled him forward closer to the bonfire. “Your uncle looks nice,” Will commented.

“He’s alright,” Jem said. “Colette’s really his girlfriend. They’re just at that awkward stage where they won’t admit it. Do you know what I mean?”

Will grinned. “I know. It’s disgusting. Kill me if that’s ever me.”

“Come on, Will. I don’t believe you’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“The horror!” Will exclaimed.

Jem burst out laughing. By now, Will had managed to push his way through almost to the front. The emcee had finished making his introductory comments, and the speeches by the guests of honour had been made. An expectant hush fell over the crowd.

“Just in time for the fun part,” Will stage whispered to Jem.

A man dressed in a town crier outfit mounted the podium. He rang his bell and proclaimed loudly: “Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy; t’was his intent to blow up king and parliament. Three score barrels were laid below, to prove old England’s overthrow. By God’s mercy he was catch’d, with a darkened lantern and burning match. So, holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring. Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king!” He pointed at the effigy of the Guy and asked: “And what shall we do with him?”

The crowd, as one, shouted the final line of the poem: “Burn him!”

Some men came forward with lighted torches and thrust them deep into the wood. At first, there was nothing, then there was a glow as the fire caught. Then, when the fire reached the outer layer, flames burst upwards in a whoosh of light and heat. Jem gasped in surprise at the sight.

As this was happening, others had grabbed the effigy and were hoisting it up onto a tall pole, while reciting: “Guy Fawkes, Guy; stick him up on high. Hang him on a lamp post and there let him die. Guy, Guy, Guy! Poke him in the eye! Put him on the fire and there let him die. Burn his body from his head; then you’ll say: Guy Fawkes is dead. Hip, hip, hooray!” 

The effigy, now fixed to the pole, was pushed over to dangle over the bonfire. The crowd cheered as the effigy caught fire, and some people chanted: “Rumour, rumour, pump and derry. Prick his heart and burn his body, and send his soul to purgatory!” 

The effigy burned quickly. Fireworks were set off as the effigy finished burning. The crowd cheered even more loudly and burst into a spirited rendition of Jerusalem and God Save The Queen. Will did not sing Jerusalem – later claiming that it was not appropriate for him, a Welshman, to sing that song – but he bellowed out the latter with much gusto and with a hand placed over his heart.

Jem watched it all with an excited twinkle in his eyes. Will dragged him along everywhere that night. They ate sticky Parkin cake and roasted potatoes, licking the hot butter and cheese that flowed over their hands with each bite. They played “invisible tag” in the darkness of the forest. They sat around a bonfire, taking turns to tell ghost stories – Jem won with his creepy Chinese ghost story. 

It was nearly midnight by the time the party wound down and people started heading home.

“Why don’t you stay over tonight?” Will asked as they looked for Jem’s uncle.

Jem shook his head. “I’ve already stayed later than I ought. I really should go home.”

“Why? Are you going to turn into a pumpkin?” Will teased. Jem laughed at the joke. But Will could see that his friend was tired.

“Jem! There you are; we’ve been looking for you for ages! Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Elias pounced on them from behind. “Come on, it’s high time to go. I thought you knew better.”

“Bye, Will,” Jem called as his uncle steered him away.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Will stood outside the fencing studio, waiting for Jem to arrive. Will had never gotten over how impressive Jem had looked with the epee, and insisted on learning fencing, so he too could be like that. It was his third lesson so far and he had already mastered his basic footwork. It helped that he practised with Jem at home using brooms.

He checked his watch; it was almost time for class to start, but Jem had still not arrived. This was definitely out of the ordinary. Normally, Jem would be early. He texted Jem and waited in vain for a response. Eventually, Will had to go inside and take his lesson without his friend. He was distracted for the entire hour.

Their instructor asked Will what happened to Jem, but Will was unable to reply. He texted Jem again; in fact, every time the instructor gave him a break, he would send Jem a text. His friend had not replied to any.

Will was feeling very worried by the time class ended. It was unlike Jem to disappear without saying a word. Will sent out another text and decided that if there was still no reply, he would call. He stared at his watch and, at precisely 10 minutes after sending the text, he dialled Jem’s number.

The dialling tone went on and on. Three times, Will called and let the phone ring through all the way to the end. Finally, on the fourth try, he heard a hoarse “Hello?”

“Jem?” Will burst out. “Good god, Jem, what happened? Why weren’t you in class? Why didn’t you answer any of my texts?”

“I’m sorry, Will. I’m not feeling too well toda…” Jem trailed off into a fit of coughing.

“Jem!” Will exclaimed. The coughing went on and on. “Jem? Jem, are you okay? Jem, talk to me!”

Finally, the coughing stopped. “Sorry,” Jem apologised. “I shouldn’t talk. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.” He coughed hard again. “I should go. Thanks for calling, Will.”

With that, Jem hung up the phone. Will was surprised at the abrupt end to their conversation. This was not the first time he had heard Jem coughing his lungs out, but this was the first time that it was bad enough to keep Jem at home. He decided that he would go and visit his friend.

He did not know the exact way to Jem’s house. But he had ridden along in the car most of the time when Thomas drove Jem home from his house, so he knew where it was. He pulled out his phone and searched on the map app, finding directions on how to get there. With great determination, he boarded the Tube and started on the journey.

By the time Will got there, nearly an hour had passed. Jem lived in a terraced house along one of the main roads in the estate. The houses were identical, down to the small garden outside each building. It was now early evening and the place was bustling with people. He strode up to Jem’s door and knocked loudly. There was no answer. He knocked again, this time banging with his fists.

He called Jem’s phone but, as usual, his friend didn’t answer. Then his phone buzzed. It was a text from Jem: “If that’s you at the door, Will, the key’s in the gnome’s lantern.”

Will stared at the text for a few seconds, wondering what that meant. Then, he slapped his hand to his forehead. The answer had been staring at him right in the face. Standing at the edge of the garden was a heavy statue of a gnome, and it was carrying a lantern. 

He walked over and examined the lantern. There were hinges at the back to open up the lantern. He did so and found a pile of melted wax inside. He spotted a piece of metal underneath – the key – and prised it out with his fingers.

Opening the door, he heard a thump and raced upstairs. Jem’s room faced the street. A wooden bed, narrow study table and small cupboard took up most of the space. Out of place for a teenage boy’s bedroom was the window seat area, which was covered in medical equipment and pill bottles.

Jem was sprawled on the floor, gagging into a yellow plastic bucket. Will rushed in and knelt by his friend. Jem grabbed Will’s hand and made a patting motion against his back. Will understood that Jem wanted him to thump him on the back. He did so, and Jem began to cough. He spit out thick yellow mucus that was streaked with blood.

When he had done so, he sat back, panting with his eyes closed. He then put the lid back on the bucket and pushed it under the table. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Will,” he said weakly.

“Do you want me to help you back into bed?” Will asked. Jem nodded, and Will pulled his friend to his feet so he could reach the bed. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked cautiously.

“Bronchitis,” Jem told him. “My own fault. I stayed out too late last night, and breathed in all that smoke and ash.”

Will was not convinced. “Jem, tell me the truth,” he said. He gestured at the dozens of pill bottles. “You’ve got a whole pharmacy in here. What’s going on?”

Jem closed his eyes again. “Cystic fibrosis,” he finally admitted. “Do you know what that is?”

Will shook his head. “Some kind of lung disease,” he said.

“Close,” Jem gasped. He coughed again, though not as badly as before.

“Don’t,” Will said, putting out his hand. “Don’t talk. I’ll look it up on the Internet.” Jem nodded and watched as Will read. 

His search revealed cystic fibrosis to be a life-threatening genetic disorder that causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick sticky mucus, causing severe damage to those organs. Medical treatment aimed to help prevent or reduce long-term damage and ease the symptoms to make the condition easier to live with. However, there was no cure and sufferers had a shorter than average life expectancy.

“Does this mean you’re dying?” Will asked, his face turning white.

“Not yet,” Jem said. “But eventually, yes, my lungs will fail me and I will die.”

“How can you be ok with that?” 

“I’ve lived with this all my life,” Jem said. “I’m used to it.”

“I don’t want you to die,” Will said in distress.

Jem took Will’s hand. “I’m not going to die today, Will. Not unless I’m very unlucky. I’m usually all right. It’s just that I caught bronchitis. It’s making it hard for me to breathe, and when I can’t breathe, the mucus builds up and…”

“And?”

“My chest feels very tight, almost painful. Sometimes, it feels like I’m drowning. I am afraid, Will. But I just have to endure it. The medicine helps.”

“It helps, but it doesn’t cure you?”

“There’s no cure for cystic fibrosis.”

“I don’t want you to die,” Will repeated. “What can I do? How can I help?”

“You can start by helping me get some more water,” Jem suggested. “I’ve finished the jug and I haven’t the strength to go downstairs to refill it.”

Will nodded and grabbed the plastic jug. “Your uncle left you alone when you’re sick?” he asked.

“He had to go to work,” Jem said. “Colette came and checked on me at lunchtime. I think she left me some soup for dinner. You can bring that up too and eat with me.”

Will did as Jem asked and brought up the water and the butternut pumpkin chicken soup. Jem did not have much of an appetite and struggled to finish his bowl.

“You don’t have to force yourself to finish it, you know?” Will said after watching Jem painfully spooning soup into his mouth.

“My body doesn’t absorb nutrients like yours does,” Jem said miserably. “It absorbs less than half of what I eat. I’ve got to finish this.”

It took Jem the better part of an hour to drink all the soup. By then, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep. Will took the bowls and washed them out in the kitchen. The house was quiet. The only sound was the ticking of the clock in the hallway and Jem’s hoarse breathing. Will sat at Jem’s desk. Prominently displayed was a picture of a younger Jem flanked by a man with silver hair and a Chinese woman. They were sitting on a balcony, with a foreign city in the background. The woman was hugging Jem, her cheek pressed against his, and the man had his arms around the both of them. Jem had the biggest smile on his face, and the two adults looked extremely merry too.

“Those are my parents,” Jem’s tired voice cut through the quiet room, startling him. Jem held out his hand and Will handed him the photo. He stroked the photo with his finger, his expression sad and wistful.

“What happened to them?”

“They were killed.”

“Yeah, you’ve said that before. But how?”

Jem sighed and hugged the photo to his chest. “It was in Shanghai, when I was 10…”


	8. Chapter 8

“What happened to your parents?” Will asked.

“They were killed,” Jem replied simply, still staring at his parents’ photo.

“Yeah, you’ve said that before. But how?”

Jem sighed and hugged the photo to his chest. “It was in Shanghai, when I was 10. It was a bad year. There was a lot of unrest in the city. The triad bosses were up to something. There was a gang war going on. Even the police knew about it, but there was nothing they could do. The triads ruled the city, pulled the strings behind the scenes. Most of the city officials were in their employ or were triad members themselves.

“Mama was a lawyer. She was the only female lawyer who dared to go up against the triad. She usually represented women who were victims of the triads. She had taken on several high-profile cases in the past years, accusing the triads of extortion and kidnapping, among other things. My uncle says she did have a case against one of the triad bosses and almost won, but at the last minute, the witness withdrew.

“Papa was afraid for Mama. I remember them arguing in the living room at night. I peeked out from my room and listened. Mama was working on a big case, something that would bring down that triad boss once and for all, she said. Papa begged her to give it up. He said to think about me; that I… needed a mother.

“I didn’t understand it then. I didn’t know that the triad was threatening her and Papa. Mama refused to give up the case. She said justice was more important, and she didn’t want me to grow up thinking it was okay to bow down to a tyrant. She told me this later. She said that whatever happened, she wanted me to know that as long as I did the right thing, I would have nothing to fear, as she did.

“I watched as Mama fought the case in court. The news was full of it – a female lawyer, with a husband and young son, and yet she pressed on. I was proud of her and insisted on watching the news every night, to see Mama in action. But Papa didn’t like it at all. He said that it was too dangerous. That it was right for Mama to want to fight for justice, but she had to remember that there were consequences, and that it was no shame to back down if there was too much risk.

“I thought Papa was just over-cautious. Surely nothing would happen. My parents were both big and strong people – Papa was the one who taught me how to fight. Surely he could keep us safe.

“But I was wrong. They came in the middle of the night. I was sleeping when I heard someone pounding on front door of our apartment, and the sound of men shouting. Mama ran into my room and grabbed me. She pulled me under the bed with her. I asked her what was happening and where was Papa. She didn’t answer me. She just covered my mouth with her hand and told me not to say anything.

“I heard the door crash open. The men outside were shouting at Papa. I heard Papa fighting them off, saying there was no one but him in the apartment. I remember Mama pulling me close to her and kissing me on the head. Then my bedroom door was knocked down. Men reached under the bed and pulled us both out. These men were big and fierce-looking. Fiercer than Papa. They were tattooed all over with triad marks.

“They dragged me and Mama to the living room and tied us to chairs. Papa was also there, but he was bloody and bruised. They began to beat Mama, telling her that they would make me watch, so I would learn what it meant to go against the triad. 

“Mama took the beating. She cried but she refused to give up the court case. Papa was pleading with her too to just give them what they wanted. When they saw that she would not bend, they turned their attention to me. They beat me and cut me with their knives. I fainted several times from the pain but I remember a cold awakening when they splashed icy water over me. My body couldn’t take it. It felt like my lungs were on fire. Each time I coughed, they would hit me.

“Papa tried to fight them again, but they just picked him up and flung him against the wall, chair and all. There was a horrible crack when Papa hit the wall, and Mama screamed that they had killed him. She screamed and pleaded for them to let me go, to hurt her instead of me.

“Of course, they didn’t, and they continued to hit me. They force fed me water by pushing a hose down my throat, making me choke. Mama kept screaming and crying. Eventually she fell silent. She was staring at me with blank eyes, and there was a ring of red around her throat, dripping down and staining her shirt.

“I was half dead by the time someone found us. They took me to a hospital. I don’t really remember what happened next. Mama’s colleagues took up her fight, I believe. They managed to get a conviction for the triad boss, though I think he managed to bribe his way out again. I don’t care. What I cared about – all I could think about – was the way Papa’s body lay there at that awkward angle, and Mama’s blank face after they killed her.

“It was months before the authorities finished their investigation and Uncle Elias could come for me. They decided it was safer for me to leave China, in case the triads came back for me. So… I came here.”

Jem’s face was wet with tears by the time he finished his story. His breathing was harsh and uneven, and he had stopped several times as he spoke, overcome by coughing fits. Now, he was gripping his parents’ photo so hard that his knuckles turned white. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that,” he said. “Not even Uncle Elias. It… it’s just too painful to think about. I miss my parents every day. There are days, like today, when I wish I had died with them. 

“I know they’d want me to be strong. And I try to. But sometimes it’s just so hard. I hated London when I first came here. The language was so foreign and it was so cold. I had to live with an uncle I barely knew, and who didn’t know me and clearly had no clue what to do with a child. He let me do whatever I wanted. But all I wanted to do was go home to Shanghai. But that was the one thing I couldn’t do. Even if I did, it wouldn’t be the same without my parents there. Even now, five years later, I still miss home. You don’t know how lucky you are, Will, to have your family. I envy you. I’d give anything to have my mother here right now.”

His face scrunched up and he was crying again. It seemed like he was struggling to breathe through his sobs, and his thin body shook as he fought for air.

Will did not know what to do or say. He never expected to hear such a dramatic tale of sorrow and grief. He dumbly reached out and touched his friend’s hand. He gingerly opened his arms and put them around Jem.

“What are you doing?” Jem hiccuped.

“Trying to give you a hug,” Will said. “Now shut up; this is awkward enough as it is.”

“You don’t have to,” Jem said.

“Yes I do,” Will said. “You’re my friend and you’re lonely and hurting. You need a hug and I’m going to give it to you.” Will tightened his arms around his friend. Jem felt so frail, he was almost afraid of squeezing him too hard and hurting him. 

The two boys sat like that for a few moments before Jem started to cough again. At first, it seemed like a normal attack, like the ones he had been having all afternoon. But it dragged on and on. Will tried thumping him on the back again, but that just worsened things. Will did not know what to do. Jem was doubled over with the spasms and fighting to draw breath.

Then came the sweetest sound Will could have ever heard – the front door opening and Jem’s uncle calling: “Jem, we’re home!”

Will ran out of the room to the landing and yelled for help. Elias ran upstairs, with Colette behind him, and burst into Jem’s room. He knelt by the bed and pulled out an oxygen mask that was attached to a canister under the bed. He placed the mask over Jem’s nose and mouth. Sitting next to Jem, he rubbed his back and urged the boy to take slow breaths.

Jem’s breathing gradually evened out and Elias got up and went to the pharmacy by the window. He returned with a flat plastic bag filled with liquid. There was a tube attached to the bag, which ended in a needle. Jem’s eyes widened when he saw it and he whimpered: “No.”

But his uncle didn’t listen to him. He pulled up Jem’s tshirt and inserted the needle into his chest. It was then that he seemed to remember Will, for he turned to the doorway, where the boy was standing in fright. “Colette, can you take Will home, please?”

Colette nodded and put a hand on Will’s back. “Come on, Will,” she said.

“Is Jem going to be alright?” Will asked, unwilling to leave his friend.

“Elias will take care of him,” Colette assured him. “Come on.”

Will’s last sight of Jem was the boy lying weakly, and his uncle pulling out yet more tubes attached to machines under his bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Colette called a taxi for Will. All though the journey home, Will thought about what Jem had told him. He could not imagine how Jem could have endured all that horror and yet still turn out the person he was. 

He got home and sat on the stairs in his house. It was true that he had lost a sister, but he still had family. He had never thought of himself as lucky before. He had always felt his family was a burden, and he often wished he was alone. But when he remembered Jem and how the boy had nothing left of his family but a photo to cry over, he realised that he was indeed lucky.

So, he sat and waited for his parents to come home. It occurred to him that Jem had probably done that too at some point – sitting, staring at doors and willing his parents to return. In Jem’s case, they never would walk through the door again. Will felt sad for his friend.

It was late by the time Will’s parents returned home from the charity dinner they had been attending. Will had fallen asleep leaning on the banister and was woken by his father gently shaking him.

Will woke and threw himself at his parents, flinging his arms around them. His parents were shocked. “What’s this, Will?” his mother asked. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Will said. “Can’t I just be happy to see you, Mam?”

His mother smiled uncertainly and returned his hug. She kissed him and then said: “Alright, enough of this. It’s late; you have school tomorrow. Go on, go to bed now, cariad.”

“Goodnight, Mam. Goodnight, Dad,” Will said. His father also gave him a kiss before sending him upstairs. 

Cecily was watching him from the landing. “What’s up with that?” she asked as he passed her. “You trying to get out of trouble?”

“I love you too, you annoying bach ddiafol,” Will told her affectionately.

Cecily eyed him suspiciously. “Who are you and what have you done with Will?” she demanded.

“Oh, go away,” Will snapped.

“There’s my stupid big brother,” she concluded with satisfaction. “Please don’t do that again. It was terrifying.”

Will stuck his tongue out at her, a gesture she happily returned. The two siblings pulled faces at each other until Will reached his attic room and closed the door.

He changed into his pyjamas and lay down on his bed. He was not tired yet, so he pulled out his phone text Jem. “I hope you’re feeling better,” he wrote. He then got up and proceeded to play video games for a few hours on his Xbox. After finally losing the game, he decided he should try and get to sleep.

As he got into bed, he looked at his phone again. There was no reply from Jem. He had not expected any. He knew he should not bother Jem but he could not help sending another text: “You’re not alone in this world, you know? You’ve got me. I can be your brother. I’d like to be your family. You can be my brother.”

He sent off the text and settled down to sleep. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, the phone lit up. It was Jem: “Thanks Will, I’d like that.”

Will grabbed the phone and started texting. “There you are! For a minute there, I thought you’d shuffled off your mortal coil and left us.”

Jem: “You can’t get rid of me so easily.”

Will: “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Jem: “I probably should. I don’t want to though.”

Will: “Why not? You must be exhausted.”

Jem: “I have bad dreams.”

Will then sent his friend a photo of a teddy bear wielding a sword and holding off a monster that was looming over a sleeping boy. “Teddy will protect you. :)”

Jem: “Thanks for coming today, Will. It meant a lot.”

Will: “That’s what friends are for. I meant it, you know, about you being my brother. Me being your brother. Whatever. That. You know what I mean. I’m a good brother, most of the time.”

Jem: “You can be my brother. As long as you don’t unleash an army of ducks on me when I’m sleeping.”

Will: “Excuse me, I should be saying that to you. You know my greatest weakness! I’m vulnerable to midnight attacks from legions of demonic ducks.”

Jem: “Why are you scared of ducks anyway?”

Will: “One of the creatures bit me once. I was doing nothing to offend it but it swam right up to me and chomped down on my leg. It took Ella and Cecily both to scare it off and make it let go. And I once dropped a duck pie into the pond at Hyde Park; the ducks ate it. They ate it! A duck pie! Bloody cannibals!”

Jem: “Haha!”

Will: “Are you going to be okay tomorrow?”

Jem: “Tomorrow? Try next week. Right now, I feel like I might have to stay in bed forever.”

Will: “I sometimes wish I didn’t have to get up in the mornings.”

Jem: “Yeah, sure, sometimes it’s nice. But it’s not nice having to stay in bed because you’re sick.”

Will: “You really should rest.”

Jem: “I should let you go to sleep. You’re the one with school tomorrow. But you cheer me up so much that I don’t want you to stop talking to me.”

Will: “I should make a recording. So my dulcet tones can always be on hand. Jester on demand.”

Jem: “Will you come again tomorrow? Please say you will. It’s so boring at home all day by myself. You saw I don’t have a TV in my room. I just stare at the walls.”

Will: “Your wish is my command, O my master. I’ll bring my best jokes.”

There was a very long pause in the conversation. Then, Jem sent: “I’m truly grateful you came today, Will. And I’m sorry you had to see all that. I wish I were healthy like you, and don’t have to be laid up all the time and scare people. Thank you for still wanting to be my brother after all of that.”

Will smiled at the message. “Go to sleep, Jem. Big brother will see you tomorrow.”

Jem: “I believe you’re younger than me by a few months. That’ll make you ‘little brother’. ;)”

Will: “No!! I want to be the big brother. Life is unfair. How can an accident of birth deprive me of being the big brother? I’d be an excellent big brother.”

Jem; “You already are a big brother. To Cecily. What I’ve seen of your performance is not a high recommendation of your ability for the role.”

Will: “I’ll have you know, today, I told her I loved her.”

Jem: “Really?”

Will: “Of course, immediately after that I called her an annoying little devil. But that’s the job of a big brother.”

Jem: “Insulting their little siblings?”

Will: “Yes! It’s good training for life.”

Jem: “Goodnight, Will. Don’t be so mean to Cecily tomorrow.”

Will: “For you, my little brother, anything. Tomorrow, I shall be the best of brothers to that little terror.”

Jem: “And the next day and the next too.”

Will: “Damn, you’ve seen right through me.”

Jem: “Haha! Goodnight, Will. You need to sleep. I’ll wait for you to come tomorrow.”

Will: “Goodnight, Jem. I’ll see you!”


	10. Chapter 10

Jem was laid up for nearly a month. Will visited him every day, and even helped him to fetch and deliver assignments to and from his school, so he would not fall behind in his lessons. Will personally did not see the point of this – he would have loved to have an excuse not to study for a month – but he was fond enough of Jem to do anything he asked, even if it was to pick up homework.

Jem usually made Will study with him. Will would sprawl out on the floor, with his textbooks all around him, while Jem would sit at the window seat, wearing his physiotherapy vibrating vest, and poring over his own books.

The two boys sat their term exams at around the same time. Jem forbade Will to come during this time, saying his friend needed to conserve his energy for studying and not be distracted running around the city every day. He went to the extent of texting Cecily to make sure Will was home.

The two weeks of exams was pure torture for Will. When the last day of school finally rolled round, he thought it was going to be sweet relief. Unfortunately, the school reports were issued that day, and Will was in a foul mood after receiving his. He went home, slammed his room door and texted Jem: “Come over. Bring snacks.”

He marinated in his irritability for half an hour before proceeding to climb out of the window to go to his secret place – a modified plastic picnic table balanced on the ridge of the roof. The table was pushed up against the chimney, where he had pulled out a couple of bricks to form a little cubby hole to store contraband.

He went there now and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He did not smoke often but he felt that today warranted a smoke. He and Ella used to come up here and smoke at night, and rant about their parents and friends.

Will slowly made it through three cigarettes before his phone buzzed. It was Jem, asking him where he was. He was still in a queer mood so he texted back: “Chim chim cher ree.”

One more slow cigarette later, he heard the sound of someone scrambling up the eave. Into view came Jem, cautiously teetering across the roof tiles and carrying his usual backpack. “What the hell, Will!” he exclaimed.

Will put out his hand to steady his friend and lead him over to the table to sit next to him. Jem continued his tirade: “Why did you ask me over if you weren’t going to tell me where you were?”

“You solved it in the end, didn’t you?” Will pointed out.

“I had to ask Cecily. By the way, she says to make sure you get rid of the cigarette smell before you come back,” Jem conveyed. “Are you smoking, Will?”

“Just a little,” he replied.

“Are you done?”

“Don’t be a dick, Jem,” Will said, rolling his eyes. “A fag now and then doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Jem stared hard at him. “It hurts me. Even second-hand smoke.”

Will remembered his friend’s illness and obligingly tossed his nearly finished cigarette off the roof. “Sorry,” he said. “Did you bring food?”

Jem took his backpack off and pulled out a paper sack from McDonalds. Inside was a box of two dozen chicken nuggets and two large packets of chips. He also pulled out a packet of chocolate cookies from Marks and Spencer. Will attacked the food eagerly.

“Why did you want me to come over?” Jem asked after his friend had finished two nuggets and a handful of chips.

Will pointed at a black and yellow folio resting on the table. There was some cigarette ash on it, but Will had eventually persuaded himself not to give in to the temptation to burn it up. Jem picked it up and opened it. “It’s your school report book,” he noted.

“Keep reading.”

Jem turned to the last page where Will’s latest report was filed. It was a sea of red. Will’s maximum grade was a D – for mathematics, which Jem had helped him with – and the rest of his subjects were Fs. French was put down as “ungraded”. His teachers had commented under his conduct that he “gets along badly with schoolmates and is determined to be hopeless at everything he does”.

“Oh Will…” Jem began. 

Will cut him off. “Don’t,” he said. “I don’t want sympathy. Or preaching. Or scolding. Mam and Dad are going to give me that once I go down.”

“Will…” Jem sighed again.

Will just shook his head and concentrated on the food again. There was a fierce glare in his eye, as though he was trying to drown his sorrows in McDonalds.

“You know, I had hoped that maybe we could go on to university together,” Jem said. “I thought that would be nice. We could room together and hang out more.”

“You don’t even want to come stay with me over the holidays,” Will retorted. The Herondale family usually spent holidays at their country house in Wales. This year, Will had asked Jem to come along for the Christmas holidays but Jem had refused.

“You know I can’t be away from home too long,” Jem explained.

“Excuses.”

“Don’t make this about me.”

“You made this about you, when you started talking about your big dream of university.”

“I was sharing something that I wished. I had hoped you shared this dream. But I see that you don’t,” Jem said.

“What? You know nothing about what I dream about,” Will shouted.

“So you do share my dream?” Jem inquired.

“I…” Will hesitated. “I don’t think so far ahead as university. I barely even think as far ahead as next month. In fact, it’s not too late for me to throw myself off this roof right now and avoid having to think about tonight.” His tone was more affectionate than annoyed as he finished.

“I think you’re high on chips,” Jem decided, and pulled the packet away from Will. In a more serious tone, he added: “Will, you may not think much about the future, but I do. It’s what keeps me going. I think about what I want down the road and it helps me to carry on when I feel like I’m dying in the night and it would be easier just to let go. I realise now that it may seem that I’m imposing my dream onto you. I apologise.”

“Don’t,” Will interrupted. “You’ve got nothing to apologise for. Cos you’re right, as usual. I should be making goals and doing something with my life. Everything seemed so pointless since Ella died. It’s like… why bother thinking ahead when you could die at any second? I’ve never been the best student either. You can see my past reports. I suck at school. This term, I didn’t give a shit about anything. Hell, I answered my French paper in Welsh – that’s why it’s ungraded.”

“You did what??”

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t tell anyone that,” Will admitted. Jem pressed his hands up to his eyes in exasperation. “Getting bad grades can be excused as me being distracted after Ella. But deliberately messing up… Ok, I fucked up. A lot. I hate that you make me realise this, Jem. I want to be a teen with a rebellious streak but you’re turning me into a responsible adult. Stop it.”

Jem laughed. “I did nothing,” he said, holding his hands up in mock protest.

“Yes, you did,” Will insisted. “You told me about your dream. Now you made me dream that too. It would be awesome to go to university with you. But I won’t be able to if I flunk my GCSEs. And then I’ll probably get tossed out of the house in disgrace and end up begging on street corners because I’m too useless to get a real job. To the work house and the whip and lash!”

“I’ll let you sleep under my bed if you promise to clean the house for me,” Jem offered drily.

“Knowing me, I’ll probably muck that up too,” Will informed him.

Jem put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Will, I can dream for the both of us. But that’s all I can do. You have to do your part. I want you in my life in the years to come. But it’s out of my power to do that. You have to want to as well.”

“I want to,” Will said quickly. “You’re my brother; I want to go with you. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I make that happen.”


	11. Chapter 11

Mr Herondale had not believed the abysmal results and sea of red on Will’s report and had insisted on seeing the exam papers. Furnished with proof that his son had deliberately sabotaged his own exams, Mr Herondale hit the roof. He gave Will a thorough telling-off, grounded him for the duration of the Christmas holidays, revoked all his TV, phone and computer privileges, and hired a private tutor to keep his nose to the grindstone.

Cecily was expected to join in the holiday lessons as well, since her results were not stellar either. She blamed Will for her plight and relations between the siblings became positively hostile.

However, that was not the worst punishment for Will. He could endure grounding and an angry sister, but the one punishment he begged his father not to impose was forbidding him to see Jem. His father had decided that Jem was not a good influence on Will – his son had never behaved so badly until he became friends with “that boy”. Will cried, pleaded, cajoled and bargained, but Mr Herondale would not budge. Jem was banned from the house and Mr Herondale ensured that everyone in the household knew it.

Will was allowed a call to tell Jem the news. He prayed that Jem would answer the phone, instead of letting it ring through like he usually did. 

“Hello, Jem’s phone,” Jem’s uncle answered.

Will was taken aback. “Er… Hi, Mr Carstairs?” he stammered. “Is Jem there?”

“Is that Will? Hi, Will. Jem’s doing his therapy at the moment. Could you call back later?” Elias asked.

“I really need to talk to him. It’s important,” Will pleaded.

“Hang on then.”

Will waited for a few minutes. He could hear the sound of Jem coughing in the background and the shuffling of equipment. Finally, Jem came to the phone. “Hello?” he said hoarsely.

“Jem!” Will burst out. “I’m grounded for the holidays and I’ve got to have a tutor every stinking day and you can’t come over.”

“What? What happened? Why can’t I come? Slow down, Will, I’m kind of woozy from my meds.”

“Dad found out about my exams,” Will explained. “He’s really mad. So I’m grounded. And I have to have a tutor. And he says you can’t come over any more. He says you’re a bad influence.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things, but never ‘bad influence’,” Jem quipped.

“Don’t make fun, Jem! This is important,” Will ranted. “Dad doesn’t want me seeing you or talking to you… he’s listening in now on the extension. Or Mam is; I don’t know. The point is, he says I can’t be friends with you anymore. What am I going to do, Jem?”

The sound of Jem coughing again grated on Will’s nerves. Then his friend said: “You do what your dad says. Don’t make him angrier than he is now. I’ll figure something out. You just make sure things don’t get worse, ok?”

“Ok. Does this mean you have a plan?”

“I don’t know. My brain won’t function right now. I’ll think about it later,” Jem assured him. “Remember what I said, keep your head down, don’t make your dad angry and don’t do anything to further hurt our cause.”

Will agreed and hung up the phone. The next day, there was no tutor yet, but his mother sat him and Cecily down in the home library and forced them to take out their textbooks and study. It was a long and agonising day as Will stared at the clock and turned the pages of his textbook only when his mother reprimanded him.

The next day was no better. He and Cecily were told to go to the library again and wait for their tutor to show up. Cecily waited until Will had chosen a corner and then sat as far away from him as possible, glaring if he dared to move even an inch closer. Will was feeling utterly wretched. It was a nice day and he wanted nothing more than to go outside in the cool sunshine. He wondered if it would snow before Christmas.

There was a strange acoustic quirk of the corridor outside the library such that it amplified sounds much more loudly than anywhere in the house. Since the corridor was also one of the main routes through the house, the two children were kept well apprised of the goings on all morning.

The afternoon found them back in the library. This time, there was a middle-aged man perusing a book when they came in.

“Hello? Who are you?” Cecily asked as she entered.

The man turned and smiled at them. He looked like someone’s uncle, with an amiable face, and wearing a formal shirt and brown trousers. “My name is Joseph Walker. You may call me Mr Walker. I’m your tutor.”

“I’m Cecily. He’s Will,” Cecily said, pointing to Will.

“One tutor for the both of us?” Will noted.

“Yes,” Mr Walker said. “Don’t worry, I’ll split my time evenly between the two of you. Neither of you will be neglected.”

“That wasn’t what I was worried about,” Will muttered. Cecily kicked him.

Mr Walker allowed Will and Cecily to continue sitting at their opposite ends of the table. He said he preferred this arrangement as it would allow him to tutor each of them individually with minimal distraction to the other. Not that it was very much use, as Will seemed determined to make as much nuisance of himself as possible whenever Mr Walker was tutoring Cecily. He was constantly drumming his fingers on the table, or clicking his pen, or rocking his chair back and forth, making it squeak.

He had just discovered how much noise the flipping of a page could be that he heard voices echoing up the corridor from the front door. It was not unusual for his parents to receive visitors in the evening after they returned from work. Normally, Will couldn’t care less who arrived, but today, being bored and restless, he leaned back to peek out.

He almost fell off his chair when he saw it was Elias Carstairs, followed closely behind by his nephew Jem. Jem was wearing an expression of utmost wide-eyed innocence, which instantly made Will highly suspicious. He craned his head further but lost sight of his friend as he turned a corner. A rap on the hand by Mr Walker wielding a rolled up piece of paper made him really fall off the chair. Cecily began laughing.

“Please pay attention, Will,” Mr Walker reprimanded. “Why haven’t you done any of your exercises?”

Will pulled a face and grumpily picked up his pen. He squiggled a few random lines before he got rapped on the back of the hand again.

“Will, if you don’t pay attention, your father will hear of it,” his tutor reprimanded. “I’m to give him a daily report, you know?”

The boy scowled even harder. Then, he remembered what Jem told him – not to do anything to further anger his father. For Jem, he would do anything, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. So he slouched so far down in his chair that his eye line was practically level with the table and grudgingly began to do his work.

The call to dinner could not have come sooner. Cecily and Will both jumped up and dashed out of the library, heedless of their new tutor. They were both dismayed when Mr Walker appeared in the dining room too and sat down. Seeing their crestfallen faces, he said: “You’re to have some supervision in the evenings too.”

“That’s not fair!” Cecily burst out. “Why am I punished the same as Will? I didn’t fail everything like he did! I was supposed to go out and meet my friends.”

“You’ll take lessons until I see a marked improvement in your work,” their father answered. “If you’re meeting your friends, let me know and I’ll say if you can go.” Cecily stuck out her tongue at Will in a superior manner. Will rolled his eyes. “Speaking of friends, I had a visit from one of yours today, Will.”

Will sat up straight at that. This was something he desperately wanted to know.

His father continued. “Jem and his uncle came to see me today. It seems I may have misjudged him. He seems like a good and responsible boy. His uncle vouches for the fact that he makes you study when you go to visit him. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

“But your punishment still stands. You are still grounded, and you shall not have the privilege of receiving visitors. I know you bent the rules the last time you were grounded, but I’m not allowing that now. You have to learn that what you do has consequences, and you have to take your punishments like a man. Jem may ask me if he wishes to visit and I will decide if he can. Am I understood, William?”

Months of frustrations were building up inside of Will. Everything he had kept bottled up inside ever since that horrible summer came rushing out now. “No! I don’t understand!” he stood up and shouted. “You guys never said a single word after Ella died. You didn’t even care. And now you’re on my case just because I flunked some stupid exam? This is bollocks. All of it. And I can’t take this anymore!”

With that outburst, Will ran from the room and out of the house.


	12. Chapter 12

Having left the house without his coat or phone or wallet, Will had no choice but to wander the streets, hugging himself to try and keep warm. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he just wanted to find somewhere quiet where he could be alone and possibly disappear forever. Throwing himself off the bridge or in front of a moving bus were definitely options he was considering.

He spotted a cigarette lying on the ground. The tip was still glowing, as though its previous owner had lit it but had to throw it away before he could finish it. Will picked it up and inhaled. But instead of the warm, lightheaded, “top of the world” feeling he usually got from cigarettes, it tasted muddy and gritty. He began to cough and he tossed it away.

It was getting colder, and there was the feeling of rain in the air. Will pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and trudged along. Eventually, he came to Hyde Park. There was a big Christmas fair going on in the park and Will got carried along by the crowd.

It was warmer inside, as the press of bodies and the numerous stalls blocked the cold wind. Will’s stomach growled when he smelled the aroma of delicious food. He had no money with him, so all he could do was stare longingly until the crowd pushed him along.

Then, he spotted a tourist throwing away a pulled pork sandwich after taking only one bite. Will immediately reached into the bin and pulled out the still-hot sandwich. He saw the tourist looking suspiciously at him, and shifting her handbag to a more secure position. He scowled at her and moved away with his prize.

He finished the sandwich in a few minutes and washed it down by trawling the cup-return booths, where people who had bought hot drinks were to return the cups. He watched for tourists again, knowing that they bought the hot cider and mulled wine just for fun and usually did not like it enough to finish the whole cup.

He was just reaching for another cup when someone grabbed his wrist. Will immediately twisted his arm round and grabbed at his attacker, just like how Jem had taught him. But his attacker moved too and caught hold of him. 

Will was about to start shouting for help when he heard: “Will?”

He looked up at his attacker and was flabbergasted to see that it was Jem, dressed in a grey duffle coat and a rainbow-coloured scarf. “Will, what are you doing?” his friend asked. 

“Nicking the cups; what else do you think?” Will joked.

Jem’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t even have a coat on. You must be freezing.” He took off his scarf and handed it to Will, who took it gratefully. “Did your parents let you come?”

“What are you doing here, Jem?”

“Visiting the Christmas fair,” Jem replied simply. “Uncle and Colette are making out in the haunted house. I didn’t want to stay and watch.”

“That’s gross,” Will agreed.

“Will, what are you doing here? I thought you were grounded.”

“I decided that I had enough of being an upper-class twit, and shall live a life of crime and become the king of the London criminal underworld. So I’m trawling the fair to try and jump-start my illustrious career. Did you know how many tourists I could’ve robbed already?” Will declared.

Jem shook his head and pulled his friend over to a quieter corner behind all the booths. “Will,” he repeated seriously. “Enough madness. What are you doing here?”

Will withered under his friend’s glare. “I had a row with my father,” he admitted. “And I left the house. I didn’t know where else to go and I ended up here. I didn’t have any money so I… I picked up whatever people left behind,” he ended, hanging his head in shame. “I’m not proud of it, but I don’t know what else to do.”

“You should go home,” Jem suggested gently.

“No!” Will exclaimed. “I can’t. I won’t! It’s horrible in there, Jem. Everyone hates me. I can’t stand it for a moment longer.”

“Oh Will,” Jem sighed. Then he grabbed his friend’s arm again. “Come on, we’ve got to find Uncle. This is beyond me.”

“No!” Will shouted again, struggling against Jem’s firm grip. “He’ll make me go home. I don’t want to go home!”

“No one’s going to make you go home,” Jem assured him exasperatedly. “But you can’t just run away from home and expect no one to notice.”

“They noticed alright,” Will said bitterly. “I made quite a scene at the dinner table. They didn’t bother to do anything.”

“Then it wouldn’t hurt for you to talk to my uncle. Don’t worry, he won’t bite. And Colette will be around as a buffer.”

Will gave up the struggle. “Fine,” he huffed. He followed Jem through the fair to the carnival section, where the haunted houses and rides were. Jem planted himself in front of one of the houses, took out his phone and called his uncle. The two adults came out within minutes.

“You know, you finding him does nothing to lessen Mr Herondale’s impression of you as a ‘bad influence’, Jem,” Elias noted. 

“Actually,” Will piped in, “My dad said he misjudged Jem and says he seems like a good and responsible boy.” Jem beamed in sudden pride.

“Nevertheless,” Elias continued. “You can stay with us tonight, but you’ll have to call your family in the morning and sort things out.”

Jem’s eyes shone. “He can stay?” he asked hopefully. “That’s brilliant! There’s space in my room. I can move the cushions up from the living room for him.”

“You will do nothing of the sort,” Elias told him firmly. “We’ve got a perfectly good spare room.”

“I thought Colette was using that,” Jem interrupted slyly. 

Colette blushed hard. Elias quickly said: “She’ll be staying with me. Will can use the spare room for the night. Come on, it’s time we were going home.”

The two boys had no opportunity to talk on the way back to Jem’s house as the train was crowded with people leaving the fair. When they got off at Ealing, Jem led the way back eagerly. Will had never seen his friend so excited before. He rushed up to his house and unlocked the door, holding it open for the rest of them to enter.

“Are you still hungry, Will?” Jem asked as he took off his coat and hung it in a cupboard under the stairs. “We’ve got lots of pot noodles.”

“Noodles sounds great,” Will said. 

“I’ll get it,” Elias interjected. “Jem, you have to do your therapy.”

Jem seemed crestfallen but obeyed his uncle and went up to his room. Colette went with him. Elias led Will into the kitchen and put on the kettle. He opened a cabinet and let Will choose from a very extensive collection of Pot Noodles in all kinds of flavours. Will picked the beef and tomato flavoured one.

“Do you want me to call your parents?” Elias asked. “They must be wondering where you are.”

“No!” Will immediately replied. “I doubt they’ll worry. I’ll call them in the morning.”

“If you say so,” Elias said. “Well, I think you know your way around the kitchen. I’m going to go check on Jem.”

Will was left alone in the kitchen as the older man left. It was peaceful in the house. Even the whistling of the kettle didn’t sound as harsh as it usually did. Will poured out the required amount of water and then carried his noodles into the living room. The room was not large but it was cosy, with the curtains drawn over the windows. There was a short Christmas tree in a corner decorated with all sorts of mismatched ornaments. Gaily wrapped presents were placed under it.

He inspected the presents. There were the gifts from Jem, with the recipient’s name written in his friend’s neat narrow handwriting. To Will’s surprise, there was one for him too. It was a book; he could tell by its shape. But it made him feel happy to think that Jem had gotten him a present.

After he had eaten his noodles, he went upstairs to find Jem. The boy was sitting at the window seat and was wearing his very bulky blue vibrating vest, which was attached to a machine. Will had seen Jem with this vest on before – it would vibrate and loosen the mucus in his lungs so it was easier to get out. 

There was violin music playing from Jem’s phone. He looked miserable, but when he saw Will, he grinned and waved at his friend.

“Hi Will!” he called. 

“How’s the robot-ification coming along?” Will asked, sitting down on the edge of Jem’s bed.

Jem laughed. “Exterminate!” he exclaimed. His voice sounded strange, sort of mechanical, like when you try to talk into a moving fan. He began to cough as he got so caught up in laughter. 

“It’s the Daleks who say that, not the Cybermen. You really must watch more TV, Jem,” Will corrected. He waited for Jem’s coughing to subside before asking again: “Seriously though, how’s it going? Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

Jem shrugged. “A little. It was the cold air. My chest hurts. It also itches. But it’s only for about half an hour. I have the music on to keep my mind off it. And you, my personal jester.”

Will frowned but Jem continued to grin. “What are you so happy about?” Will asked.

Jem blushed. “It’s stupid,” he said. “But you being here is the coolest thing ever! I’ve never had any friends stay over before. I’d always wondered what it’s like to have a sleepover. Like, staying up all night talking and playing games and stuff.”

“That’s what girls do. Didn’t you have sleepovers when you were a kid?” Will inquired.

“Nope,” Jem answered. “Chinese kids aren’t really big on things like that. And their parents thought I was sick and they didn’t let their kids come anywhere near me. My parents sometimes set up a tent in the living room and let me pretend I was camping, but I’ve never had a proper sleepover before.”

“And this isn’t a sleepover now,” his uncle’s amused voice came from the doorway. “We’re letting Will stay for tonight, but tomorrow you’ll have to call your parents and work things out. That’s the deal.”

Elias came in, switched off the machine and helped Jem to unstrap the vest. Jem tried to breathe deeply but coughed so badly that Will grew frightened. But it passed, and Jem seemed completely normal. “Oh Uncle, can’t you just let me pretend for one night that I’m having a sleepover?” Jem pleaded, picking up the conversation as though nothing happened.

“You can pretend all you want. But you have to take your meds and get into bed,” Elias ordered. “Once you’re in bed, you can exchange signals through the wall with Will all night for all I care. Just don’t wake up the neighbours.”


	13. Chapter 13

The boys did not knock on the walls to send Morse messages to each other. Instead, Jem got into bed, as his uncle ordered, and Will dragged over his mattress and laid on Jem’s floor, and they played games together on their phones. The sound of the games and the light from the little devices filled the room. 

They called it a night only after Jem dropped his phone on his face because he was so tired and unable to hold it up any longer.

Will was still on Jem’s bedroom floor when he woke up the next morning. But Jem was not there. Will got up and wandered out to the hallway where he found Elias sitting outside the closed toilet door. He heard Jem coughing inside.

“Morning, Will,” Elias greeted. “Want the toilet? You’ll have to wait your turn.”

Will sat down next to Jem’s uncle. A particularly loud bout of coughing and retching made Will cringe. 

Elias noticed and said: “I swear, one day he’s going to die in there.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “I’ve told him a million times not to do his therapy without me. And not to lock the door. But he never listens.”

“Is Jem really going to die?” Will asked.

“Eventually, yes,” Elias confirmed. “Cystic fibrosis patients generally have a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years. But Jem’s a bad case. The doctors think he won’t live until 30, unless he gets a lung transplant.”

Will struggled to process this information. A 30-year-old person seemed ancient to a 15-year-old boy. His sister Ella had been 17 when she died. “That doesn’t seem too bad,” Will remarked.

“It’s bad,” Elias assured him. “He’ll likely never have kids, or, if he does, never see them grow up. He’ll probably never hold down a proper job, because of all the health issues that’ll take up his time. Fifteen years will fly by, and all too soon, they’ll be gone.”

Will rubbed his nose hard, feeling the prickling behind his eyes that signalled tears. He had learnt to recognise this sensation after Ella’s death. While 30 years was an unimaginably long time for him, the concept of death wasn’t. He could imagine a world without Jem and he didn’t like it.

“Why did you run off last night?” Elias asked suddenly.

Will blinked, feeling wrong footed. “I had a row with my parents.”

“Over?”

“Being forced to be tutored day and night. And being under house arrest. And… stuff,” Will ended lamely.

“Stuff?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Will said fiercely.

“Look, sometimes parents do or say things that seem mean but they don’t mean it to be mean. They’re human too, you know?” Elias explained. “I only began to understand when Jem came to live with me. I’d try to do things that I thought helped him, but they really really didn’t. He gets mad at me sometimes, believe it or not. But I try my best. I’m sure your parents do too. 

“Sure, they may mess it up; no one gets it right all the time. Parenting is a whole series of trial and error, give and take. They’re trying to do their best for you, but you have to work it out with them when they do it wrong. That’s why you should go home today and talk to your parents. Whatever ‘stuff’ is, it can be fixed.”

Will shook his head. “It’s unfixable.”

“Nothing’s unfixable. Whatever you did, your parents won’t stay mad at you forever. Parents are good that way. Like, I could be mad at Jem for a while – I think we once went a week without speaking to each other – but I still love him. I’m sure it’s the same with your parents. Whatever happened, it’ll blow over, but someone has to make the first step to fix it. Best if it’s you. Gesture of good will, you know?”

Will didn’t really believe him, but just mumbled “yeah”. All the grown-up talk was making him uncomfortable and he didn’t want to deal with such complex matters in the morning. He stood up to go away.

“By the way, you can use the kitchen sink if you just want to brush your teeth. I don’t know how long Jem is going to take in there,” Elias suggested.

Will had slept in a tshirt Elias had lent him, as Jem’s clothes were too small for him. He returned to the spare room and changed back into his own clothes. He then went down to the kitchen and found Colette stirring something in the pot. At the side, there were four plates with portions of crumpets and eggs distributed.

“What’re you cooking?” Will asked, leaning over the pot. There was something that looked like mashed potatoes but green in colour.

“You’ve never tried this before?” Colette asked. She had a slight accent to her voice and Will liked to hear her speak.

“No.”

“Then I’m not going to tell you till you try it,” she said. 

Will grimaced. “I don’t it when people say that. It’s pretty guaranteed I’ll hate it. It’s mushy peas, isn’t it? I hate mushy peas.”

Colette laughed. “It’s not mushy peas.”

“Then what is it? Does Jem like it?” Will continued to ask.

“Jem doesn’t like a lot of food. I wouldn’t trust his likes and dislikes,” Colette advised. “He doesn’t even like fried chicken. Do you know of any other teenage boy who doesn’t like fried chicken? Or pizza? Or, you know, junk food?”

“Are you guys making fun of me?” Jem asked, walking into the kitchen. He was still dressed in grey Shaun the Sheep pyjamas. He went over and perched on a tall stool over by the counters. He still looked half asleep.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Colette greeted. “Why aren’t you dressed yet? Where’s your uncle?”

“Toilet.”

“That jerk! I told him to tell me when you were done. I was supposed to be next in line for the toilet!” Colette gave the green stuff in the pot and extra hard stir in annoyance. “We’re not going to wait for him for breakfast, boys,” she said conspiratorially. “Jem, could you put the kettle on for the tea?”

Jem complied, yawning as he stood by the sink to fill the kettle. Will was given the task of spooning out portions of the green stuff onto the plates.

Breakfast was hot buttered crumpets with poached eggs and the green stuff. Colette sprinkled salt, pepper and olive oil on it. She also poured out glasses of milk for the two boys to have in addition to their tea. Will hungrily dug in. He found the green stuff to have quite an interesting flavour – creamy, nutty and buttery. 

“Can you tell me what this stuff is now, Colette?” Will asked. 

“It’s mashed avocado,” she told him. “Do you like it?”

“It’s… ok,” Will replied. His appetite for it disappeared after being told what it was.

“What are you boys doing today?” Colette asked conversationally.

Jem looked up from his breakfast. “I thought Will was supposed to call home. That’s what Uncle said,” he said.

“I don’t have to, though,” Will countered.

Elias walked in then. “What are you guys talking about?”

“What the boys are going to do today,” Colette said.

“Will’s going home to thrash things out with his parents, isn’t he?” Elias asked, as though that had always been the plan. Will squirmed in his chair; he had hoped Elias had forgotten. Jem’s uncle noticed his discomfort. “Come on, Will, we’ve talked about this. Your parents would have had time to cool down by now so it’s a good time to talk. There’s nothing that can’t be solved just as long as everyone sits down and has a proper talk.”

“Yes there is. They’re going to kill me. I don’t wanna go back,” Will pleaded. “Jem, don’t make me.”

“I’m sorry, Will, but I agree with Uncle on this one,” Jem said apologetically. “You know yourself that Cecily has been frantically texting me all night asking if you were here.”

“Your family has been looking for you? Did you answer them, Jem?” Elias asked.

“No. Will told me not to,” Jem said.

Colette put down her fork and said sternly, “Jem, you shouldn’t have just ignored the texts! What if it had been an emergency?”

“But Will didn’t want me to, “Jem repeated, looking bewildered.

Elias firmly put his foot down. “I thought you had better sense than that, Jem. We’re finishing breakfast, then I’m taking Will back home. End of discussion.”

“Don’t throw him to the sharks, Uncle!” Jem exclaimed.

“They are his parents, not sharks,” Elias said exasperatedly. “Eat your breakfast. We’ll all take Will home; do you prefer that? Bit of buffer and support?”

“I guess,” Jem grudgingly accepted. He looked over at Will, who was going pale. “Will?”

“Do I have a choice?” Will asked.

“No, you don’t,” Elias said firmly.

Breakfast was a slow affair. Jem was usually a very slow eater, but today, Will dragged things out as much as he could, with the result that he finished eating even after Jem did. By the time he was done, Jem had already changed and was waiting for him in the living room.

Will took his time to wash his plate and dry it, and then moved at a snail’s pace to put on his shoes. Elias and Colette were looking askance at him, but said nothing.

Jem handed him a coat to put on – he guessed that it was supposed to be Jem’s for it had a print of music notes on it. It fit him just fine. There was a taxi parked outside the house. Elias now hurried them a little, not wanting to keep the taxi waiting.

The drive to Belgravia was shorter than Will liked, and it seemed like no time at all before they pulled up outside the Herondale townhouse. The four-storey house seemed to loom judgementally over him as he walked up the steps to the front door. He glared at the hulking edifice. Once he reached the front door, he hesitated. There was still time for him to run off – he knew this neighbourhood better than any of them. He could still get away.

But before he could decide on any getaway plan, Elias stepped up next to him and rang the doorbell. The door opened after a few moments.

“So, you decided to come back,” Mr Herondale observed.

Will froze in fright when he saw his father. Suddenly, running away seemed a much more enticing prospect.


	14. Chapter 14

“Well, don’t stand out there in the cold. Get inside,” Mr Herondale said, standing aside so Will could enter.

Will slowly inched towards the doorway and his father. He was not sure what sort of mood his father was in and so was unsure how to react. He glanced back at Jem uncertainly and his friend nodded his head to urge him forward. Will skirted his father, moving as though his father were a wild tiger about to pounce.

“Will, do you want us to stay?” Elias asked.

“I’d like to speak to my son alone,” Mr Herondale said firmly.

Elias looked at Will for confirmation and the boy reluctantly nodded. He realised that as long as his father was not yelling at him, he probably should do nothing to antagonise him further. He gave Jem a watery smile as his father closed the door.

Inside, Mr Herondale seemed to loom large in the corridor. Will shrank into himself and waited for his father to make the first move. His father put a hand on his shoulder and led him through to the living room. His mother was there, and she stood up when she saw Will. Will expected her to look angry, but instead, she looked relieved. Will was bewildered.

Mr Herondale let go of Will and went to sit next to his wife. Will remained standing in the doorway. “Sit down, Will,” his father said, gesturing to the sofa opposite. Will fell onto the sofa, too nervous to coordinate his movements properly. 

“Will,” his father began, “I know that things haven’t been easy for you. We haven’t had the opportunity to spend quality time with you in the last few months. And that’s our fault. But you should know that we love you, and you can talk to us whenever you need to, about anything at all.”

“Yeah, I know, Dad,” Will said, squirming awkwardly. He found himself wishing his father would hurry up and apply the strap or whatever punishment he was going to impose so he could get it over with.

“Ella’s death was hard for all of us,” his father went on. “I admit that we may have been caught up on our own feelings and neglected to consider yours. This is not to say that we do not care for you. Do you have anything to say?”

Will hesitated and swallowed hard. There was so much he wanted to say but, facing his father in this odd mood, he was tongue tied. But his father waited. Finally, Will asked: “Do you blame me?”

“Blame you? Why would we blame you?”

“Well, if it weren’t for me, Ella would still be here,” Will stammered. “It’s my fault she died. It’s all because I’m a stupid idiot, and she’s gone and it’s my fault. I didn’t mean it. It was supposed to be just for fun. I didn’t want anyone to die. It wasn’t supposed to happen. Ella tried to stop me but I didn’t listen to her. I talked her into letting me ride that stupid bike. I should’ve listened to her. Now she’s gone and it’s all my fault. It was me. Me and my stupid idea.” He knew he was babbling but he couldn’t stop himself.

His mother got up and went to sit next to him. She put an arm around Will’s shoulders, and Will cuddled up to her as though he were a small child. “It’s alright, cariad,” his mother said gently. “You couldn’t have known any better.”

“But it’s my fault,” Will whimpered. “You should be mad at me. You must’ve been.”

“Your dad and I aren’t angry at you,” his mother assured him. “We were more worried than anything, and relieved that you were still alive. You have no idea what it felt like when you and Ella didn’t come home that evening. We went looking for you and it was the worst moment of my life when I saw the two of you lying on the road. We didn’t have time to blame anyone, and by the time we thought of it, well, we discovered that it didn’t matter anymore.” His mother hugged him. “We’re sad that Ella’s gone. But we’re glad that you’re still here. We love you, cariad. Don’t ever think that we don’t love you.”

Will recovered his composure and wiggled away from his mother’s embrace. “I know, Mam,” he said. He tried to grin at her but ended up with a grimace instead. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for Ella to die.”

“It was an accident, son,” his father said. “You loved your sister. We know you wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her.”

“But why didn’t you punish me?” Will asked. “I did something wrong and it ended horribly. I mean… I fail my exams and you guys act like it’s the end of the world, but for something so big like that…”

“We didn’t punish you,” his father explained. “because we didn’t think about it at that time. Like your mother said, we were too relieved that we didn’t lose you as well that we never actually thought about punishments. In any case, I see that you’ve punished yourself better than anything we could have done.”

“It was horrible,” Will whispered. “I thought you all hated me.”

“We could never hate you,” his father assured him. “You learnt a lesson that day, and I think you’ve learnt it well, haven’t you?” Will nodded contritely. His father moved to sit next to him too, and kissed him on the head. “We love you, son. Even when it seems like we don’t. We just want the best for you.”

Will threw his arms around his father’s neck. “I love you too, Dad,” he said. It felt so good when his father hugged him back. It was as if he had been adrift for months and had finally found an anchor. His mother put her arms around them too and Will felt like everything was going to be all right. He was with his parents and he felt safe and loved.

“So does this mean you’re not going to punish me for flunking anymore?” Will asked hopefully.

His father gave him a final squeeze before releasing him. “No chance,” he said with a grin. “It wouldn’t be fair to Cecily. However, the terms are up for negotiation.”

Will’s lips lifted in a smile. “That sounds fair,” he agreed.

His father ruffled his hair. “Go to your room. We’ll discuss this later.”

Will got up and did as he was told. On the way up to his room, he ran into Cecily on the landing. “You’re back,” she noted. She tried to keep her voice bland but her expression of relief betrayed her.

“Well, don’t look too happy to see me,” Will replied.

“I was going to go ask Mam if I could move into your room,” Cecily informed him. “And then I was going to paint it pink, with frilly white curtains.”

“You hate pink,” Will pointed out.

“No I don’t. Anyway, you hate it more,” Cecily retorted.

Will pulled a face. Then, in a more serious tone, he asked: “So, what exactly happened last night?”

Cecily grew serious too. “Mam and Dad thought you ran up to your room, so they didn’t do anything at first. Then, after dinner, Dad went upstairs and discovered you weren’t there. They went mental. Dad started yelling, Mam started crying. They went out with Thomas and Bridget to look for you. Where’d you go, Will?”

“Jem found me in Hyde Park. I stayed the night at his place,” Will said. “Then what happened?”

“I was texting him all night!” Cecily exclaimed in outrage.

“I know. I told him not to reply,” Will admitted. 

“Dad drove over to Jem’s place to see if you were there,” Cecily told him. “He spotted you in the window and wanted to go get you. Mr Walker talked him out of it. Said we should give you some space to cool off. They were freaking out all night.”

“Freaking out? Why? It wasn’t a big deal,” Will said flippantly.

Cecily’s lips turned down and she looked like she was going to cry. Will was instantly reminded of when they were little and they were playing in the garden, and Cecily fell and scraped her knee badly. She cried when she saw the blood, and it was Will who comforted her and took care of her. He did so now and hugged her. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“The last time you went missing, Ella died,” Cecily said in a choked voice. “I don’t want you to die Will. You’re the only brother I’ve got left.”

“I’m the only brother you’ve got, ever,” Will said, trying to lighten the mood. But her words struck him. He had not thought about how it must have been like a nightmare repeated for his family when they could not find him. “Cecy… I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be like that. You’re the only sister I’ve got left too. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“You’re an idiot!” Cecily said, slapping him on the chest. She flung herself at him again. “Don’t go away, okay, Will? I want you to stay with me forever and ever and ever. Okay? You’re not allowed to leave.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Will said in mock fear. “Not without your express permission, you little ddihiryn.”

Cecily slapped him again. Will happily reciprocated, and, for a moment, all was right with the world again.


	15. Chapter 15

Will was not made to resume holiday lessons after his escapade. But he did not escape scot free either. His father brought him along to work every day and made him do little tasks around the office. 

Mr Herondale worked in a large security firm, which provided security and auxiliary police services all over the country. It even had branches on the Continent, but London was its main branch. Mr Herondale was a senior vice-president as well as the head of operations. He led a department of more than 20 people. So, Will was kept on his toes running errands and making tea and coffee for everyone.

But Will felt like a proper working man as he put on his shirt and nice jeans, and followed his father to the city each morning. He was even given a security pass to wear inside the building. He took a lot of photos of everything to show Jem.

Since the Herondales did not return to Wales that Christmas, Mr Herondale decided to throw a Christmas party at their home on Christmas Day. Everyone in the office, and their families, were invited.

Will looked forward to it, especially since he had helped with the organising of it – he and his father held long discussions on the decorations, catering, guest list and entertainment, among other things. 

He helped to oversee the workmen coming in to set up the huge live Christmas tree and put up bunting and other decorations in the large living room of their house. Later that night, he and Cecily snuck down and hid action figures and other random toys among the branches of the tree, as a way of personalising it. They also hung socks from the branches, which were quickly discovered and removed by their parents.

When Christmas Day came round, Will bounded downstairs at the crack of dawn. He knew it was childish behaviour, but the pile of presents under the tree was calling his name. He collided with Cecily while going down the stairs, and the two siblings raced each other into the living room.

The night before, their parents said that they could each open one present in the morning, but leave the rest till after the party, as they didn’t want the tree to look too bare without the presents.

Cecily grabbed the present from their father and tore the wrapping paper off to reveal a small green satchel with a pattern of horses on the fabric. Inside was a ginger Lanky Cat toy. She pulled the cat out and hugged it.

Will selected the present from their mother. He ripped the tape off the ends and opened the wrapper. It was a Kindle eBook reader. Will immediately opened it and switched it on. It was preloaded with the Percy Jackson series. Will had read them before, but his mother had not known that. Still, Will opened a book and began to re-read it.

The guests started arriving around lunch time. Will kept to himself as he didn’t know any of the other children, and it was awkward for him to hang out with the adults. Jem was not there – he had to go with Elias to spend Christmas with Colette’s relatives – and Will was feeling bored.

Lunch was excellent. The turkey was just a little bit too dry, but it was fine after Will drenched it in cranberry sauce. He had huge helpings of everything and finally retreated into a corner with his new Kindle. 

Someone was banging away on the piano and trying to sing. It sounded terrible and Will wished someone would stop her. Gabriel Lightwood, whom he knew from school, was trying to chat up some girls. His sister, Tatiana, had been staring at Will all afternoon.

She now sidled up to him and sat next to him, trying to attract his attention by flipping her long brown hair, smoothing down her dress, batting her green eyes and trying to lean over to see what he was reading. Will pointedly ignored her until she started typing away on her cellphone. 

When she got up and moved away, Will noticed that she had left her cellphone on the seat. He picked up the glittery golden phone and switched it on. The girl did not even have a password, and Will was able to get in easily. It opened to the Twitter app and Will saw the latest tweets that she had been typing.

Feeling extremely bored and restless by now, Will got up, went over to the piano and commenced reading Tatiana’s tweets out loud. 

“Omg! Gotta go to dad’s boring Xmas party. Boring 2tm. The things I do for prezzies.”

“I thought this party was for old dudes like my dad. But… hot guy alert!”

“Hot guy is son of the host. Wonder if he’s single. Gotta get to know him.”

“Food is delish. Awesome salad. Sinful chocolate cake. Stuffing my face.” Will then began to describe the photo Tatiana posted of her plate of food. 

“His name is Will Herondale. What a perfect name for a perfect guy. He’s so hot. I can’t stand it.”

“Ahhh… look at him with his dreamy blue eyes n his hot bod. I wanna run my fingers thru his hair. Omg! He’s looking at me!”

“Note to self: Act cool, Tati. Don’t think about his gorgeous hair.”

“Will has the most sexy accent EVER. I wish he’d talk to me moar!”

“Tatiana Herondale. Our babies will be gorgeous.”

“Making a move. Wish me luck!”

“Dammit! He doesn’t care! He’s reading his Kindle. Whyyyyy?? Look at meeeee!!!”

“Thirsty. Gonna go get some more punch. Wonder if I should get him some too. Wonder if he likes punch. Haha! Brb!”

Tatiana realised what was happening by that point and started screaming blue murder. If people had not been paying attention before, they were paying attention now. 

Tatiana’s brother Gabriel barrelled through the crowd and tackled Will, trying to get the phone back. But Will saw him coming and was prepared, and jumped up onto the piano.

“Get down from there, you damn Herondale!” Gabriel shouted.

“Never! You can’t catch me!” Will taunted, hopping from the piano onto a nearby table. He ran the length of the table then tripped over someone’s cup and went sprawling onto the floor.

Gabriel was on him in an instant. The two scrambled around on the floor before finding their feet. “Give me Tati’s phone!” Gabriel demanded. 

“Come and get it, Lightwood,” Will challenged.

Gabriel headbutted him but Will easily took the blow. He grabbed at Gabriel’s arm and swung him to the side. There was a loud snapping sound and Gabriel screamed. That drew the adults. Mr Herondale pulled Will off Gabriel and wrestled him to the side of the room. Mr Lightwood knelt by his son, who was cradling his arm, which was sticking out at a strange angle.

“He tried to kill me!” Gabriel yelled.

“I barely touched you!” Will protested. 

“You insulted my sister!”

“I did no such thing!” 

“You read my tweets! Those were private!” Tatiana joined in the argument.

“They were on Twitter for all the world to see,” Will pointed out. “It’s not my fault you wrote dumb stuff.”

“You’re a beast, Will Herondale!” Tatiana cried. Her mother came up to her and led her away, all the while shooting daggers at Will with her eyes.

“Hand over the phone, William,” Mr Herondale ordered, putting out his hand and glowering at his son all the while. Will meekly passed the phone to his father. “Now, go to your room and think about your behaviour.”

Will picked up his Kindle and did as he was told. He gave Gabriel a dirty look as he passed, and Gabriel glared at him. He went up to his room and lay on the carpet by the window.

He promptly fell asleep and woke up about an hour later when Cecily barged into his room.

“Well done, genius. I don’t see how you’re gonna avoid the strap this time,” his sister announced. She flopped down next to him, hugging her new cat toy.

“Have they gone?” Will asked.

“Yeah. Dad called it a day after your fight. I heard him tell Mam that you broke Gabriel’s arm. The Lightwoods hate you now,” Cecily told him.

“It isn’t a party till someone gets his arm broken,” Will concluded, yawning with boredom. “Merry Christmas to one and all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I don't know if anyone is actually reading this. I hope someone is and is enjoying the story. Please leave a comment so I know you're there. Apologies for such a long time between posts. I'll try and post more often now. Twice a week, hopefully. ;)


	16. Chapter 16

Will was summoned to his father’s study later that evening. His father’s glare was extremely fierce and Will quivered, staring down at the carpet the whole time.

“Will,” his father began. “I’m extremely disappointed in you. Your behaviour was simply unacceptable. You were supposed to be the host. Hosts are not rude to their guests nor do they physically attack their guests for any reason. You should be ashamed of yourself. 

“You disgraced Tatiana today with that atrocious display. She’s a girl. Girls her age are bound behave in a silly manner sometimes. But that doesn’t mean you should encourage her behaviour or even engage in it yourself. You must show respect to girls. How would you have felt if someone did that to Cecily? Think about that the next time you even think about teasing a girl.

“But that’s not all you did. No, you still had much more havoc to unleash. I ignored you when I saw you jumping on the piano; though that is disgraceful behaviour. Fighting cannot be excused. You should have known better. Gabriel was trying to defend his sister. You should have understood that well enough and ceased with your hooligan act.

“Mr Lightwood has informed me that Gabriel’s arm was broken. He had to be taken to hospital to have it set. The medical bill came up to around 2,000 pounds, and you will pay for it. I will be taking it from your allowance until the whole bill is paid. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“I didn’t mean to break his arm!” Will burst out.

His father glared at him again. “Nevertheless, you attacked him…”

“He attacked me first!”

“You were disgracing his sister!”

His father’s tone brooked no argument and Will just hung his head.

Seeing the gesture, his father took a deep breath and continued: “Now, for punishment. You are grounded, indefinitely; and you will not go for fencing lessons for two months. Jem is also not to teach you any fighting in that time. Yes, I know you learnt it all from him. Be glad that I’m not forbidding you from being friends with him. I hope you learn a lesson from this, William.“

Will did not say a word as he heard the punishment. He shuffled back to his room after his father dismissed him. He lay on the carpet again. In hindsight, he probably should not have grabbed Gabriel that hard. But how was he to know the boy had such weak bones? 

A light tapping at the door roused him. “Come in,” he called.

The door opened and Cecily peeked in. She shyly came in, her arms full of presents. “I brought you your Christmas presents,” she said.

In his present state of mind, he thought presents were pretty pointless. What use were presents when the world was so horrible and conspiring against him? But he appreciated that his sister had thought to bring them to him. “Thanks, Cecy,” he said. 

Cecily sat down next to him. Her cat toy was wound around her shoulders like a scarf. Her hair was also in a horrific mess. This was unlike her, for she usually took a lot of pride in her appearance. “So what did Dad say?” she asked.

Will shrugged. “The usual. I’m grounded ‘indefinitely’. No fencing class. And I’ve got to pay for Gabriel’s treatment. Two thousand bloody pounds. I’ll be paying off that debt forever. I’m going to starve when school starts. I won’t have money to buy lunch. I’ll waste away into nothing,” he ended off dramatically, flinging his arm over his eyes languidly.

Cecily looked alarmed. “You can bring food from home. Bridget can pack a lunch box for you. She makes nice lunches,” she suggested.

“I haven’t got a lunch box,” Will pointed out.

“I can lend you one. I’ve got loads.” Cecily offered.

“Thanks but no thanks,” Will said. “Your lunch boxes are all pink My Little Pony. I’d rather starve.”

Cecily pouted. “You’re mean,” she whined. “Can’t you be nice for once? Don’t spoil Christmas. Please?”

Will looked at her. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “You’re acting weird. What did you do with your hair?”

Cecily looked at the floor and mumbled: “I tried to braid it, like how Ella did. She always played with me after we opened our presents.” Then, she hugged her cat toy. “It’s Christmas. We’re supposed to have Christmas dinner together, with turkey and pudding and mince pies and crackers. But you and Dad are mad and Mam’s downstairs crying… I got you all presents, but no one cares. I miss Ella. She always made it all better.”

Will put his arms around his sister. “Cecy, I’m sorry. I miss Ella too. Maybe that’s why I’m acting out. Everything feels wrong somehow,” he said. “Of course I care. Where’s your present? I’ll open it now.”

Cecily reluctantly fished out a small box wrapped in red paper with snowmen frolicking. Will tore it open. It was a Magic 8 Ball. “Oh Cecy! This is awesome!” he exclaimed, giving his sister a hug. “Go on, ask a question.”

His sister eagerly asked: “Are we going to have dinner soon?”

“What sort of question is that?” Will asked incredulously. “Couldn’t you think of anything cool? Like, is it going to snow? Or is Will the awesomest brother in the whole world? Or will Dad unground me before I turn 18?”

“But I’m hungry!”

Will shrugged. He held the ball in his palm and intoned: “Oh great Magic 8 Ball. Will we be having dinner soon?” He shook the ball hard then held it out so Cecily could see the answer too. “Outlook good,” he read. “Okay. I take that as a yes. Why did you ask that stupid question anyway? Isn’t it past dinner time?”

“I’ve told you. You and dad are mad and Mam’s upset. No one’s in the mood for dinner. Mam told me to go get food from Bridget if I wanted to eat.”

Will frowned. Then, he sat up straight. “There’s still food left over from that ghastly party, isn’t there? Come on, let’s go have a family Christmas dinner.”

Cecily perked up and the two siblings went downstairs. They found Bridget in the kitchen, surrounded by plastic containers of food. They gathered up as much food as they could carry and brought it into the living room, setting it down next to the tree. Cecily went to call their parents as Will dimmed the lights, built up a fire and set out the food picnic-style.

“Will?” his father’s voice drifted from across the room. “What’s this?”

Will looked up. His father held a questioning expression, as though he could not believe his eyes. Behind him, his mother appeared, being pulled along by Cecily. Her hair was much neater now; their mother had clearly fixed it.

“It’s Christmas,” Will said. “We always have a family dinner at Christmas.” He went and took his father’s hand, leading him over to the fireplace. He sat down on the floor and picked up a plastic container. “Turkey?” he offered.

“Plate, Will,” Cecily said, handing round the utensils. Their parents joined them on the floor and began to dish out the food. “Wait! We forgot something!” Cecily exclaimed. She ran out of the room and returned a few moments later. She was clutching a picture frame in her hands. It was a picture of Ella and she placed it right in the midst of them all.

Will’s hands shook and he felt like he wanted to cry. He looked over at his mother and saw her grab Cecily to kiss her. Her eyes were glistening. Will bent his head and concentrated on his food, ignoring the tears that rolled down his nose and plopping onto his plate. But he was drawn into a hug by his father. “I love you, son,” his father said.

“Love you too, Dad,” Will said in a choked voice.

His mother moved over with Cecily and the whole family joined in a group hug. 

“We’ll be okay, right, Mam?” Cecily asked from the depths of the hug.

“Of course we will, cariad,” her mother assured her. “We’re a family.”

“Even without Ella?” Cecily asked.

“She’s never really gone from us,” her mother said. She picked up the photo of Ella.

“She’s watching over us from Heaven,” Will pipped in. “That’s what the minister said.”

“Wherever she is,” their father added, “She’s still here with us in our hearts.”

Cecily snuggled deeper and wrapped her arms more tightly around everyone. “Mam, Dad, Will, I love you all,” she said.

“We love you too, sweetie,” her father said. “And don’t worry. We’re all going to be okay.”


	17. Chapter 17

It was the day after Boxing Day. Will had just gotten up around noon and was feeling restless. Being cooped up in the house did not suit him. So, he went downstairs to his sister’s room.

Cecily was sprawled on the floor reading a book. Her stuffed toys were sitting around her with books of their own spread open before them. She looked up when Will came in.

“Cecy, my lovely and most wonderful sister, can you do me a huge favour?” Will asked.

Cecily’s eyes narrowed. “What?” she asked suspiciously.

“A mere trifle, but something only you, with your charm and amazing powers of persuasion, will be able to do,” Will continued.

“Spit it out or go away, Will, we’re trying to read,” Cecily scolded.

“And here I was, thinking a little flattery would go a long way. Oh how my efforts are wasted,” Will mock lamented. Cecily threw a book at him, which he neatly dodged. “There’s no need for violence, dear sister,” he deflected. “Anyway, I was wondering if you could ask Dad something for me.”

“Ask him yourself,” Cecily immediately replied.

“He’ll say no if I ask. But if you ask…” Will trailed off. “Please, Cecy? I’ll owe you a big favour.”

Cecily pouted. “What do you want me to ask?”

“Ask him if I can go and visit Jem today,” Will quickly said.

Cecily frowned. “You’ll owe me a favour? A big one? Anything I want?”

“Anything, my gem of a sister.”

A huge grin spread on Cecily’s face. “You’ve got a deal!” she exclaimed, leaping to her feet and rushing out the door. Will watched as she ran down the stairs, yelling for their father. She returned five minutes later.

“Well?” Will asked expectantly.

She nodded. “You can go see Jem,” she reported.

Will hugged her. “Thank you, Cecy! Thank you!” 

“Get off me!” Cecily pushed him off. “You owe me.”

“Anything!”

“I’m coming with you to see Jem.”

Will was thunderstruck. “You? Come with me? To Jem’s?” he stammered.

“Yes. You said you owed me,” Cecily reminded him.

“I thought you’d ask for sweets or for me to do your chores,” Will bargained.

“Since when do you do chores?” Cecily pointed out. “No. You said you owed me. I want to go and see Jem too.”

Will crossed his arms. “Well, what makes you think Jem wants to see you? Come on, Cecily, it’s boy time. You won’t like it.”

Cecily crossed her arms too. “If you don’t take me then you can’t go. I’ll tell Dad,” she said obstinately.

“You wouldn’t!”

“He’ll think it’s weird if you go and I don’t. Especially since I told him it was me who wanted to go and I wanted you to accompany me,” Cecily said, with the air of someone holding a trump card.

“You little...” Will sputtered. He reached out to grab her but Cecily skipped out of his reach and stuck out her tongue.

“Can’t catch me!” she taunted. 

“Cecily, stop it. This is not funny,” Will admonished.

“I’m not being funny. Please, Will? I want to go with you to visit Jem,” Cecily pleaded. “I’ve got a Christmas present for him.”

“I’ll give it to him for you.”

“No, I want to give it to him myself,” Cecily insisted.

Will grimaced. “If it’s a card that reads ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, Jem’s so cool, I love you’, I’ll kill you,” he warned.

“It’s not,” Cecily assured him. “So can I come?”

Will let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine,” he conceded.

“Yay!”

Will rolled his eyes. “Hurry up then. I want to go as soon as possible.”

“Dad said we could get Thomas to drive us,” Cecily informed her brother.

“Of course he did,” Will sighed.

Cecily wisely kept quiet for most of the ride in the car, though Will could sense her suppressed excitement. He slouched down at his end of the seat, stared out of the window and tried to pretend she was not there.

The streets of London were quiet. The people that were around seemed to be in that lazy state that epitomised the time between two major holidays – having celebrated Christmas, they were now saving their energy for the upcoming New Year. The shops were in the weird limbo where they could not decide if they were having Christmas sales or New Year sales. Will knew that they would be awkwardly playing Christmas music which told shoppers to be good or Santa won’t come, even though Santa was supposed to have already come and gone.

As they drove through Ealing, some houses had their Christmas trees discarded by the big wheelie bins outside. At other houses, Will spotted people still wearing Santa hats.

Thomas pulled up outside Jem’s home and waited for Will and Cecily to climb out. He told them to give him a call when they wanted to go home and he would come and pick them up. He remained parked outside and watched as the two children went up the path to Jem’s front door.

“Behave yourself!” Will hissed to Cecily, more out of the need to give an order than because she was misbehaving. She scowled at him.

Will rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, Colette opened the door. She was wearing her coat, suggesting that she had been on her way out. She smiled when she saw them. “Will, hello! It’s been while since I last saw you. Merry Christmas! Are you here to see Jem?”

“Merry Christmas, Colette,” Will replied. “Yes, is he in?”

Colette turned and called up the stairs: “Jem! Will’s here!” Will heard movement from Jem’s room. “He’s a bit under the weather,” Colette warned. “So don’t tire him out too much.”

“I’m fine, Colette,” Jem insisted as he came downstairs. He was wearing a purple sweater with a fluffy reindeer on it. “Hello, Will! Hey, Cecily!”

Cecily gave him a wave and Will rolled his eyes.

“Alright, well, Jem, I’ll leave you to take care of your guests. Call us if you need anything,” Colette said. She gave him a quick hug then was out the door.

Jem waved her goodbye and then said, “Come on in, Will, Cecily.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Come on in, Will, Cecily,” Jem invited, standing aside so the siblings could enter the house. “Let’s use the living room. You can leave your coats there. Are you hungry? Do you want cookies?”

Will was more at home in Jem’s house and had already taken off his coat and draped it over the sofa. “Sure. Let me help you.” He barrelled past Cecily and into the kitchen, dragging Jem along with him. In the kitchen, Will ensured that Cecily hadn’t followed them then closed the door.

“Will, what’s with all the cloak and dagger?” Jem asked curiously.

Will lowered his voice. “Cecily doesn’t know you’re sick,” he said. “I don’t want her to know. It’ll only upset her. I didn’t want to bring her here but she insisted. She’s already been pretty upset the last few days cos of Ella.”

“You don’t want her to think I’m dying,” Jem clarified. “Will, I’m not dying.”

“You have cystic fibrosis. It’ll kill you eventually. She’s not stupid, you know, she can Google it and see what it means. I don’t want her to get upset that you’ll eventually die,” Will explained.

“Everyone dies, Will,” Jem said softly.

“Yeah, I know, but I’d rather keep the ugly truth from her for as long as possible,” Will said. “Please, Jem?”

Jem sighed. “Fine. I don’t like to broadcast my condition anyway.”

“Thanks.”

Jem went over to the refrigerator and busied himself with rummaging through it and pulling out some milk and a large Tupperware container. Will pulled out some mugs from the drawer and the two boys went back to the living room.

“What took you guys so long?” Cecily asked. She was sitting on the sofa and was holding a small present wrapped in flowery paper.

“I had to fight Will to stop him from eating all the cookies,” Jem teased. He pried open the Tupperware and offered it to Cecily. She studied the contents and pulled out a star-shaped cookie with rainbow sprinkles on top.

Cecily put the cookie in her mouth and then held out the present to Jem. “I’ve got a present for you, Jem!” she exclaimed with her mouth full.

“Cecy, don’t talk with your mouth full!” Will said, also through a mouthful of cookie.

Jem began to laugh. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” he commented. Will punched him on the arm.

Cecily took the cookie out and held the present in one hand. She repeated: “I’ve got a present for you. Merry Christmas!”

Jem looked surprised. “For me? Cecily, you shouldn’t have!”

“Go on, open it. I want to see what atrocity she dreamed up,” Will ordered.

“I’m sure it’s lovely,” Jem said. He carefully eased off the tape from the paper and unfolded it to reveal an odd-looking lop-sided sock monkey. The monkey was yellow with a pattern of white clouds. Jem saw Cecily staring hopefully and anxiously at him. He picked up the monkey. “It’s adorable, Cecily! Did you make it yourself?”

The girl nodded. “Mam helped, but I cut it and stuffed it,” she said.

“It must have taken quite a while,” Jem commented. He held up the monkey and scutinised it. “It grows on me. It’s really very cheerful after a while, don’t you think, Will?”

Will was grimacing as though he could not decide whether to love or hate it. Finally, he said: “It’s not bad.”

Jem laughed again. “It’s adorable,” he repeated. “Thank you, Cecily!” The girl grinned and blushed. “I have a gift for you too,” he added. He got up and went to the Christmas tree. He pulled out two presents and handed one to Cecily. The girl tore open the wrapping. It was a charm bracelet kit. 

“Thanks Jem!” Cecily exclaimed. “I’m going to make one especially for you.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Jem said. He picked up the other present. “This is for you, Will.”

“It’s a book, I know it,” Will said as he accepted the present. He opened it and found a black slipcover with the letter S embossed on the cover. A seal was stuck over the side to hold the book inside in place. There was no indication of what book was inside, except for a pattern of waves on the spine. It felt like receiving a dossier of top secret documents.

“Open it up at home, when you’re ready to read it,” Jem instructed. Will frowned at him in confusion. “You’ll understand when you do that,” his friend added. 

Will shrugged and put the book aside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet pouch. “This is my gift to you, Jem. Thanks for being such an awesome friend to me,” he said as he gave it to Jem.

Jem opened it and pulled out a jade pendant shaped like a fist. The pendant was attached to a piece of thick black cord. “Will, this is too much. How can I accept this?”

“Yes, you can,” Will insisted. “It’s jade. I got it for you because jade comes from China, and you said you missed China. It’s like a little piece of your home. And it’s shaped like a fist. Which is cool because it means strength.”

“But the expense…” Jem protested.

“I come from a rich family,” Will shrugged. “Take it, Jem. I owe you so much; this is the least I can give you.”

“Will…” Jem began, but Will gave him a glare and he backed down. “All right then. Thank you,” he conceded. He immediately put it on and then grinned. “I heard you were grounded, so I didn’t invite you over. But I was hoping you would come. There’s something I wanted to show you. Wait here a moment.”

He got up, went out of the room and returned with a big green and white cardboard box in his arms. Even without looking at the logo, Will could tell it was an Xbox. Jem set it down in front of the TV, knelt next to it and opened it. He pulled out the console and two game controllers.

“Uncle was so pleased I made a friend that he bought me this,” Jem explained. He sounded a little embarrassed. He pulled out some games as well – there was Fifa, Assassin’s Creed and, surprisingly, Epic Mickey. “These are from Colette,” Jem said. He ran a hand over the devices, as though not sure what to do with them. “So, what do you say, Will? Want to play?”

“I want to play too!” Cecily exclaimed, putting up her hand excitedly.

Will examined the games. “Let’s play Epic Mickey,” he decided. He went over to sit by Jem and pulled out wires to help his friend set up the console. Very soon, Jem (as Mickey) and Will (as Oswald) were exploring the ruined castle in two-player mode, prompted by Cecily.

The two of them died very quickly in the game. Will was too busy laughing and making fun of the way his character walked as though it didn’t have knees, and Jem could not focus because of the split screen – he kept thinking he was the other character instead. 

“You both are pathetic,” Cecily said after they failed to kill a robot monster for the third time.

“This game is harder than it looks!” Will protested.

“Come on, Will, we have to focus. We can’t let this game defeat us,” Jem encouraged.

The boys shook hands in agreement and dived into the game again. This time, they made it to the second stage before Will burst out in hysterical laughter again over a giant robot monkey.

Cecily could not take it anymore and snatched the controller from Will. “Give me that. Let a girl show you how it’s done,” she snapped.

She was certainly a formidable little terror of a player, bulldozing her way through the obstacles and monsters with barely any help from Jem. She ignored Will’s increasing laughter and commentary at each cut scene as characters with outrageous accents appeared to give direction. She did not hesitate to scold Jem when he mixed up characters.

Almost single-handedly, she dragged both characters through the game and to the final stage where accomplished the quest.

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Will concluded. “The bloody end. Thank god. Why did Colette ever think you would like that game?”

“It wasn’t too bad,” Jem countered. “I’ll probably have an easier time in single-player mode, without that confusing split screen. Good game, though, Cecily. Have a cookie to celebrate your win.” He reached for the plate of cookies only to find that they were all gone. He looked at Will in mock annoyance.

“I was hungry,” Will admitted.

“I’ll go see if there’s more,” Jem said. He stood up, perhaps a little too quickly for he immediately began coughing in harsh, hacking, “lungs are about to explode” type coughs, and it didn’t stop. He covered his mouth with his hand, but when he took it away in an attempt to draw breath, Will saw there was blood.

Cecily saw it too and she went white with terror. “Jem?” she whispered.  
Will jumped into action. “Cecily, stay here,” he ordered. He then grabbed Jem’s arm and pulled him out of the room.


	19. Chapter 19

Will dragged Jem into the kitchen, where his friend braced himself against the kitchen counters and fought for breath as he coughed. He staggered over to the sink and vomited thick yellow mucus streaked with blood. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, though Will spotted tears glistening under the lids.

He eventually stopped coughing and managed to catch his breath. With a grim expression on his face, he turned on the tap to wash away the mucus in the sink.

“Jem?” Will asked softly, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. His friend was so thin that Will could feel the bones even through his sweater. Jem looked away from him. “Jem, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Jem said in a choked voice. “It’s really not.” He paused and inhaled raggedly, his hands gripping the kitchen counter hard. “I think you should take Cecily home, Will.”

“I can get Thomas to come and pick her up. I’ll stay,” Will offered.

“No, Will, please, go,” Jem said.

“But…”

“Will, please,” Jem pleaded.

Will was reluctant to leave his friend when he was clearly ill. But Jem was firm in not wanting Will to stay. So he did the only thing he could do, which was to obey Jem and leave. He left the kitchen and returned to the living room, calling Thomas to pick them up on the way. In the living room, he was confronted by Cecily. “What happened? Where’s Jem? Is he okay?” his sister demanded.

“He’ll be fine. He’s just tired. Come on, we should go,” Will told her.

“What? No! I want to see him and make sure he’s okay,” Cecily insisted.

“Cecy, I said no,” Will asserted. “Get your coat. Thomas is on his way.” Cecily had a stubborn expression on her face. She made a move and tried to dart past Will, but her brother managed to stop her. “Cecily Herondale, we are guests in this house. Behave yourself.”

“I just want to see if Jem is okay,” Cecily pleaded.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern,” Jem said as he entered the room. He gave a weak smile. “I apologise. I think I may be catching something. One of Colette’s relatives had the flu when we visited.”

Cecily did not look like she believed him. But she picked up the sock monkey and handed it to him. “I hope you get well soon,” she said.

Jem smiled again. Will was glad that his sister did not know Jem very well. She would not have seen how much effort it took Jem to smile normally or how he was trying to hide his ragged breaths or still his trembling hand.

Thomas pulled up outside in a few minutes. Will bundled Cecily into the car then ran back to the house, claiming he had forgotten something. He found Jem sitting on the floor, with his head leaning against the sofa, as if he had reached the last of his strength and collapsed there.

“Here, Jem, let me help you to your room,” Will offered.

“Where’s Cecily?” Jem asked, looking around.

“In the car. Come on, I can’t leave you like this.” Will grabbed Jem’s arm, draped it around his neck and hoisted his friend to his feet. 

Jem began coughing again. “Will, I don’t think I can make it up the stairs,” he admitted, sinking back down onto the floor. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine here. Just pass me my phone.”

Will handed his friend the phone. “Call Colette. Or your uncle. I mean it, Jem. I don’t like leaving you here by yourself.”

“I just need to rest for a while, then I’ll be fine,” Jem insisted. “Go home, Will. I’ll text you later. I promise.”

“Call me,” Will ordered. “I wouldn’t put it past you to make your uncle text to say you’re okay when you’re not.”

Jem’s lips turned up in a small smile. “How little you think of me,” he said.

The car horn sounded outside. “The little terror must be getting impatient,” Will said in exasperation.

“Best not to keep her waiting,” Jem suggested. “Go on, Will. Thank you for coming today.”

Will nodded and ran out to the car. He resolutely ignored Cecily’s interrogation on the journey, and continued to insist that it was probably just the flu that Jem had. Under the façade, he was frantic and worried about his friend. When he got home, he went straight to his room and locked the door so his sister could not come in and badger him more.

Cecily appeared to have let the matter go by dinner time, or at least, had decided that nagging her brother was not the answer. Will ate as quickly as possible and retreated to his room again. He climbed out of the window to go to his secret place up on the roof and sat there for nearly an hour. He stared at his phone, willing it to ring, all the while slowly freezing.

His hands were blue by the time he decided to go back downstairs. There was still no call from Jem. Will set his phone’s ring tone to the loudest volume, placed it next to his pillow and then went to bed. He wanted to stay awake, just in case Jem called, and started singing songs inside his head to try and stave off sleep. But his eyelids slowly grew heavy.

He found himself in the cemetery. It was raining like it had been on the day of Ella’s funeral. The mourners were there, though he could not see who these people were. Cecily was there, and so were his parents. He was hanging around the gravestone of “Gone but not forgotten Arthur Canaway”, with its carving of a chubby angel, and watching the proceedings.

The coffin was dark brown, almost black. It was resting on a metal trolley by the open grave. Raindrops were sliding over the shiny lacquered wood. There was a bouquet of white flowers on the coffin, and also a small yellow sock monkey. Will was not sure whose funeral it was but that monkey filled him with a sense of dread.

The minister swooped down on the people, black robes billowing. He looked like a gigantic bird of prey landing and ready to make a kill. His piercing eyes darted all over and he stared directly at Will.

Then, Will found himself at the front of the crowd. He heard people talking about how sad it was that the person had died, and how it must have been a relief. More than ever, Will wanted to know whose funeral this was.

He went over to the coffin. It was now inside the grave, so Will had to look down to see it. Muddy water was pooling around it. The coffin’s lid was gone. The inside of the coffin was lined with pale pink material, like Ella’s had been when Will saw it at the funeral parlour. But it wasn’t Ella inside. Will saw a purple sweater, a green pendant in the shape of a fist, and then Jem’s lifeless face.

Will woke up abruptly and sat up. Was it just a dream? he wondered. It all felt so real, and the dread he had felt in the dream still lingered. He immediately grabbed his phone and dialled Jem’s number. He had not heard from his friend all day, and he needed to make sure his nightmare was not real.

It took almost 10 rings before someone answered. “Hello, Jem’s phone,” Elias’ sleepy voice said.

Will blurted out: “Jem? Are you okay?!”

“What? Who’s this?” Elias asked, sounding more alert.

It dawned on Will that it was not his friend on the line. “Oh, sorry, hi, Mr Carstairs. It’s Will.”

“Will, why are you calling in the middle of the night?” Elias asked. There was some annoyance in his voice.

“I wanted to talk to Jem,” Will replied. There was a little bit of panic building in him. “Can I talk to him, please?”

“No, he’s sleeping,” Elias said firmly. “He’s exhausted. It’s been a rough day for him.”

“Yeah, okay,” Will stammered. He added anxiously: “Is he all right though? He’s still alive, right?”

“What sort of question is that?” Elias asked sharply. “Of course Jem’s still alive. Will, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Will evaded. “I just though I’d… check.”

“Will, what’s the matter? If you know something, tell me,” Elias admonished.

“It’s really nothing. Just a… it was just something silly,” Will admitted. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be calling to disturb anyone in the middle of the night. Goodnight, Mr Carstairs.”

Will hurriedly hung up before Elias could say another word.


	20. Chapter 20

Will woke up in a bad mood. He was feeling extremely worried about Jem. There was still no word from his friend and Will debated whether or not to call again to check on him. After the irate middle of the night encounter with Jem’s uncle, though, Will was a little nervous about calling.

He went downstairs for breakfast and growled at Cecily when she tried to speak to him. Then the tutor came for her and she was kept busy and out of his way for the rest of the day. 

Will, however, did not have to take holiday lessons any more. So he was feeling lost and did not know what to do with himself. He could not go out as he was grounded, even though he wanted to do nothing more than dash off to Ealing.

Then, he remembered the book Jem had given him. He thought that would keep him busy for a few hours. So he returned to his attic room, sprawled on the thick carpet and took out the book.

The slipcover was almost like a box. There was a seal holding the book in place, and Will used a small penknife to break it. He slid the book out and carefully placed the slipcover over to the side.

Inside was a book with a hard brown cover. The title Ship Of Theseus was stamped on it, together with the author’s name V. M. Straka. There was the image of a sailing ship on the cover, surrounded by a circling web of white and yellow lines.

Will opened the book. The first page looked like an old 1940s library book – complete with in/out date stamps. The book was made to feel old and musty, and it even smelled that way. He found annotations in coloured ink and handwriting in the margins and within the text, as though the various readers had made their own notes. There were at least two different sets of handwriting and the writers seemed to be interacting and commenting with each other. Between the pages of the book were newspaper cuttings, maps, letters, photographs and much more additional material.

“Oh my god, Jem, this is an amazing book,” Will said to himself.

He set to work reading and figuring out the book. He discovered that there were stories within stories, and secrets and puzzles to be unravelled. Soon, he was completely engrossed in the story, the intrigue and the world of Jen and Eric. It was a roller coaster ride from the start and Will could not put it down. He had to find out what mysterious forces were pursuing the writers, whether there was a secret coded message and, above all, what it all meant in the bigger picture.

Cecily knocked on his door sometime in the middle of the day but he shouted at her to go away – he was too busy with his book to bother with anything else. So by the time he felt ready to take a break, he was amazed to find that it was already evening.

He checked his phone. There were a few messages from Cecily telling him to come down for lunch. Nothing from Jem. Will’s finger hovered over the call button before he changed his mind and typed out a message instead: “Jem! That book is AMAZING!! I love it so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hope you feel better. Call me, okay? I can’t wait to tell you everything!”

He sent off the message then went downstairs to see if there was any food. Bridget allowed him to eat a few biscuits as it was almost time for dinner. She mock reprimanded him for skipping lunch, saying she was not going to put extra food on his dinner plate, and he would be lucky if she didn’t just serve him leftovers.

Will was thankful that she did not carry out her threat, and he devoured his tagliatelle and smoked eels with much relish. Cecily was in a bad mood and resolutely did not speak to him throughout the meal. 

After dinner, Will tried to call Jem again. This time there was no answer – neither from Jem nor his uncle. After waiting for an hour, Will went to his father and asked if he could go to visit Jem the next day. Surprisingly, his father acquiesced with very little pleading or bargaining on Will’s part.

So, the next morning, Will tried to call Jem again, just to give his friend some warning that he was coming. Once more, there was no answer. Will was growing concerned again, and the feeling of dread was coming over him again.

He made his way to Ealing and to Jem’s home. He rang the doorbell and knocked hard several times. He took the key from its secret place and entered the house. “Jem?” he called. “Mr Carstairs?” He wandered around the whole house before realising no one was home.

Now Will was in a fix. Should he go home? Should he stay and wait for them to return? If he stayed, should he wait inside the house? He compromised and sat on the front step. He had his Kindle with him so he was prepared to wait all day if necessary.

And wait all day he did. It was about 4.30pm and he made it almost all the way through Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief before he saw Colette coming up the path. He got to his feet as she approached.

“Will? What are you doing here?” Colette asked in surprise.

“I was waiting for Jem,” Will said. “I tried calling him for two days but he never answered his phone.”

Colette’s expression was grim. “Come on, inside; you must be freezing,” she said, opening the door and ushering the boy in.

Will had not noticed the cold till now and he began to shiver. Colette led him into the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea.

“Colette, where’s Jem?” Will asked. “Is he all right?”

Colette had been busying herself with the mugs and teabags. When Will spoke, she stopped and looked at him. “Will,” she began. “Jem’s in hospital. He was coughing very badly the day you and your sister came, and he developed a high fever the next day. Elias says he was in a bad way last night and he took him to the hospital. They’ve been there ever since. I just came back to get some clothes and supplies for them.”

Will felt as though the ground had been pulled out from under him. Jem in hospital? It felt unreal. “Is he going to be okay?” he asked anxiously.

“I hope so. Elias tells me that Jem has an infection and his lung function is very low,” Colette explained. “I am not sure what it all means. I just came from the hospital. They’re giving him all sorts of medicines. They’re very powerful, so he’s not 100 per cent alert.”

“Can I go see him?” Will asked. He was struggling to contain his unexpected tears.

“Probably not today. He’s been sleeping for most of the time. He wouldn’t know you were there,” Colette replied. She came up to Will and gave him a hug. “You’re a good friend to him, Will. A real brother. Jem told me you two decided to become brothers.”

“That’s why you have to let me see him,” Will insisted. “He’s my brother. He needs me.” Colette hesitated. Will saw and pushed: “Please? I promise I won’t bother him. I’ll just be there, in case he wants me.”

Colette gave in and promised to take him along when she returned to the hospital for evening visiting hours. Will made himself useful by helping to pack some of Jem’s things to take to the hospital. Colette told him to pack pyjamas, t-shirts and sweaters. Will did so, picking out cheerful patterns he knew Jem would like – animal prints, bright colours, soft materials – and placing them into a backpack. He also packed Cecily’s sock monkey, which had been next to Jem’s pillow. 

“Will, are you ready to go?” Colette asked, standing in the doorway.

Will looked around for anything he might have forgotten. “Should we bring his violin?” he asked.

“I doubt he will be able to play it any time soon,” Colette replied. She entered the room and gestured at the backpack. “Let me see what you picked.”

She checked the items, swopping one or two of the outfits to something more subdued, and adding in a few pairs of socks and heat packs too. Then she zipped up the backpack and helped Will to put it on. “Let’s go,” she said.

They took a taxi to Ealing Hospital and got off at the children’s wing. The floors were linoleum and Will’s sneakers squeaked when he walked over them. The hospital was busy as it was the evening visiting hours.

Jem had a room to himself because he was a cystic fibrosis patient and they had to be careful that he did not catch any other infections. The walls were painted light orange and there were blue privacy curtains hung around the bed.

Elias was sitting on a folding bed next to the window and watching TV on a low volume. He smiled at Will when he saw the boy. Jem’s bed was next to him, but it looked like he was asleep. Colette entered the room and went over to the boy. She bent over him, stroked his hair and said: “Jem? Jem, Will’s here to see you.” 

She beckoned to Will to approach the bed. Will had been standing by the door – hospitals made him nervous, and the sight of all the machines surrounding Jem’s bed increased his apprehension.

But he came forward and saw that Jem was awake. His friend was wearing an oxygen mask, and there was a tube going into his chest. Jem looked miserable and weak, and he seemed to have some trouble focusing on Will.

“Hey Jem,” Will said, feigning cheerfulness. “You don’t look so bad. Looks like with a long rest and a good bath, you’ll be back on your feet in no time.” Jem rolled his eyes. Will took it as a good sign. He took the sock monkey out of the bag. “I brought you your monkey. It’ll cheer you up, I’m sure.” He put the monkey next to Jem’s pillow where his friend could see it. He didn’t know what else to say so he began to move away from the bed. Then, he felt Jem’s long thin fingers lightly touch his wrist. He turned back and looked at his friend. It was very subtle but Will saw that his friend wanted him to stay.

“Don’t worry, Jem,” Will said. “I’ll stay as long as you want me to.” Colette pulled a chair for him to sit on. “In fact, I’ve got so much to tell you, about that book you bought me…”


	21. Chapter 21

Will stayed all the way until the end of visiting hours. He spent all the time talking to Jem, even though Jem could not say anything back to him without breaking into a fit of coughing. Jem seemed very reluctant to let Will leave, but Will assured him that he would come and visit as often as he could.

Elias walked Will out to queue for a taxi. “Thank you for coming, Will,” the older man said. “It’s really cheered Jem up. I hadn’t seen him so alert all day.”

“He’s going to be okay, right?” Will asked.

“After your visit, I think he’ll be fine,” Elias answered. He noticed Will’s fearful concern and assured him: “Don’t worry. Jem’s never been very good with the cold. He’s in and out of hospital every winter. The infection was worse this time round because he kept refusing to see the doctor. He’ll probably won’t be able to go straight back to school after the New Year, but apart from that, I think he’ll recover.”

Will nodded. “Sorry for calling in the middle of the night the other day, Mr Carstairs,” he apologised. “I had a nightmare and overreacted.”

“You had a nightmare about Jem being dead?” Elias guessed. Will nodded again. “I suppose I should be glad you called to check immediately. You’re a good friend to Jem. It’s good that he met you.”

It was almost Will’s turn in the taxi queue. “I’m supposed to be grounded. I don’t know how often Dad will let me come and see Jem,” Will admitted.

“I’ll call your father and have a talk with him,” Elias assured him. “You’re good for Jem; I’m going to make sure you stick around.”

Will was given permission to visit Jem any time he wanted. He went every day until the new school term started and stayed until the nurses chased him off at the end of visiting hours. Eventually, he took to hiding when the nurses came to tell him it was time to go. Jem aided and abetted by helping him hide under the bed, in the toilet, in the cupboard and many other ingenious places, then telling the nurse he had already left. This enabled him to stay all afternoon. Jem seemed to be recovering into his old self and had graduated from the oxygen mask to nasal cannulas. 

Then school began again. Will was stuck in the classroom all day and alternated between being utterly miserable and extremely grumpy. Everyone in his class knew that he failed everything in his last examination and kept teasing him. He knew it was a matter of time before he punched someone, but he restrained himself. Gabriel had also spread the story about the Christmas party fight, and Will did not put it past him to tattle to his father if he fought again.

Will began yearning for the time when the final bell would ring and he could run out of the school and away from everyone. Finally, it was the first Friday after school began. School ended early and Thomas drove Will to go see Jem in the hospital. 

As Thomas pulled up outside the hospital, Will asked: “Thomas, could I have some money to buy Jem a gift?” Thomas hesitated, so Will quickly added: “It’s weird if I go see him without anything, isnt’ it? I promise, I’m just going to buy him something from one of those little shops in the hospital.”

“I suppose that would be all right then,” Thomas conceded. He took out his wallet and handed Will 30 pounds.

“Thanks, Thomas! I’ll return it to you when I get my allowance back,” Will said. He dashed out of the car, almost getting knocked over by a motorcycle in his haste. But nothing happened and he gave a panicked Thomas a cheerful grin and two thumbs up.

It was right in the middle of visiting hours, so the hospital was bustling with people. Will wandered down the row of hospital gift shops. Everything seemed so boring – balloons, cards, flowers. He wanted something special. Jem didn’t like books, so that was out of the question. He already had a stuffed toy that he liked; he had formed a strange attachment to the deformed sock monkey that Cecily gave him, and even named it Mr Bingo Banana Beans. Will was sure nothing he bought could ever hope of competing with that.

Then, he passed by Tesco and saw that there was a discount on the Peppa Pig Moldable Foam Soap. A wicked grin spread on his face and he went in and bought 30 pounds worth, which made up 30 cans. He stuffed all the cans into his backpack as best he could, while the rest had to go in several Tesco shopping bags. People stared as he passed by but he did not care.

Jem was awake when Will entered the room. His whole face brightened up when he saw his friend. “Will! You came!” he exclaimed. “It’s been so boring without you this week.”

“How’re you feeling?” Will asked, trying to manoeuvre the shopping bags discreetly.

“Much better. I wish I could get out of here,” Jem said. “You’ll probably have to hide soon, visiting hours are almost over.”

“Screw it; they know I’m here,” Will dismissed. He took off his shoes and hopped onto the bed across from his friend. He pulled the privacy curtain around the bed. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Jem frowned but obeyed. Will unpacked the cans from his bag and opened one and sprayed the contents into Jem’s hands. His friend gave a cry of surprise and opened his eyes. “Will! What’s this?” he asked.

Will showed him the can and sprayed more at him. Jem began to laugh and flung the white foam back at him. He picked up a can of his own and sprayed the contents onto Will’s head. Will retaliated, spraying the rest of his can down Jem’s neck. 

Jem picked up a pillow to shield himself. His can ran out and he picked up another one. Will jumped off the bed and attacked Jem’s unshielded legs from his lower vantage point. Jem continued to aim for Will’s head, causing foam to drip down his hair and all over his face. Will began to dodge around the bed, tracking foam everywhere.

There was soon a huge pile of foam building up on the bed. The boys kept going and eventually covered the floor around the bed with sticky foam.

When the cans finally ran out, it looked and smelled like a soap factory had exploded and had taken the neighbouring candy factory with it. Jem had hopped off the sodden bed and used it as a no-man’s land, over which he lobbed foam balls at Will. The boys shrieked exuberantly whenever the sticky foam balls managed to hit their target, and taunted each other when they did not.

This descended into hand-to-hand combat on the bed, when Will leaped up to try to rub a handful of foam into Jem’s hair. It ended up with the pair wrestling and rolling over each other.

Then, the privacy curtain was abruptly yanked back and a nurse demanded: “What on earth is going on here?”

The boys were covered in foam – their faces were smeared with it, there were piles of it in their hair and on their clothes, and Will’s shoes were swimming in the stuff. The bed was certainly soaked in the foam, it was lying thickly on the floor and also coated on the curtain.

“This is a hospital!” the nurse scolded. “There are sick people here trying to get some peace and quiet to recover. This is not a playground. And what is all this mess?”

The boys stopped their play when the nurse came in. However, they struggled to contain their mirth when the nurse tried to advance on them and began to slip on the foam. She slid around, trying to grab hold of the furniture to balance herself. The problem was that most of the furniture was also covered in the stuff so she found no help there.

Jem lost it first and burst out into peals of laughter. He began to cough as he laughed, but that only made him laugh more. Will joined in at the sight of the red-faced nurse who was shouting at them and calling for reinforcements to deal with these delinquent hooligans who should get thrown out of the hospital immediately.

It took ages for Jem to calm down enough for the other hospital nurses to bundle him up in a warm dressing gown and a surgical mask and take him and Will out into the corridor so the cleaners could deal with the mess. The nurses’ station was nearby and the nurses were all giving them stern, disapproving glares. 

“This was the best day ever,” Jem affirmed quietly to Will. His eyes were still twinkling with excitement. 

“Glad you enjoyed yourself,” Will whispered back. “I’m probably banned from this hospital for life.” He cautiously eyed the horde of cleaners moving in and out of Jem’s room. They not only had to clean out the foam but they also had to disinfect the floors, curtains, bed, equipment and furniture. Apparently the boys had even managed to get foam on the ceiling.

“Me too, though they can’t throw me out just yet,” Jem said.

“Go, and never darken out doorstep again. Or rather, never cover our rooms in foam again,” Will pronounced solemnly. Jem began to giggle again and Will elbowed him sharply. “Quit it. They’re watching.”

Most of Jem’s face was covered in the mask but Will heard his friend’s breathing pattern change as he chuckled silently.

Then they saw Elias rushing down the corridor towards them. The older man stopped when he saw them and grabbed Jem. “Jem, are you all right?” he asked anxiously. “They told me to come down as soon as possible.”

“I’m fine, Uncle,” Jem assured him.

Elias inspected his nephew and his expression turned into one of relief. “Then why did they call me?” he asked. His eyes fell on Will and narrowed. “What have you two been up to now?”

“We were…” Jem began.

“Nothing,” Will interrupted. “It was nothing really. Some boyish high jinks. You know how it is, Mr Carstairs.”

Elias’ expression grew grim. “I dread to think,” he said drily. “I suppose I should go and sort out this mess.” Jem began to giggle again, causing his uncle to glare at him.

Elias turned to Will. “I suppose this is all your doing,” he accused. He looked at his watch. “Unfortunately, it’s late; you’d better go home. I’ll deal with you later.”

Will cast a relieved look over at Jem and then scarpered as fast as he could.


	22. Chapter 22

Later that night, Will was playing video games in his room when his phone rang. To his surprise it was Jem.

“Hey Will! Guess where I am,” Jem’s cheerful voice sounded over the phone.

Will frowned. “Well, aren’t you cheery for someone who’s supposed to be stuck in hospital with grumpy nurses.”

“They kicked me out,” Jem enthusiastically told him. “Well, they told Uncle that I could probably do the rest of my treatment at home, so they discharged me and said they’re going to send a nurse round every few days to make sure I’m still alive.”

“That’s it?” Will said incredulously. “We mess up the hospital and they didn’t do anything?”

“What were you expecting, Will?” Jem asked. “Torture?”

“Well… yeah,” Will admitted. He went over and lounged on his bed. “What did your uncle say?”

Jem sighed. “He’s not too happy about it. He says he and Colette are going to have to take turns taking leave of absence from work to keep an eye on me, help me do therapy during the day and stuff.”

“You could come here and hang out,” Will suggested.

“But that’ll be so inconvenient for your family,” Jem pointed out. “Besides, all my equipment is at home.”

Will gave it some thought. “How about hiring a nurse full time?” he asked.

“It costs money,” Jem rebutted. “It’s expensive having a chronic illness.” He sounded sad. But then he immediately perked up. “Don’t worry, Will, we’ll manage.” There was a long pause. “Today was brilliant, Will. I don’t know if I’ve already said that. It was the most fun I’ve had in ages. It’s worth all the trouble afterwards.”

“At least they didn’t make us clean the hospital using toothbrushes,” Will quipped.

Jem burst out laughing. “What would I do without you, Will?” he asked affectionately. “You always make me laugh.”

“You’d laugh a little bit less, I expect,” Will speculated. “And someone else would be enjoying my delightful company.” Jem laughed again and Will felt pleased that he was able to make someone laugh like that. Jem laughed until he began coughing hard. Will shook his head in disapproval and said: “Go to sleep, Jem. It’s late. You need your rest.”

“Some days, I wish I were normal like you,” Jem said softly. “It must be nice not having to be sick all the time, not having to take a million pills a day, not always having to go and rest because one’s body loses strength so easily.”

“Don’t say that, Jem,” Will admonished. “You must think positive.”

“I know,” Jem replied. Will could imagine his friend smiling the small ironic smile he sometimes had. “You’re right; it’s late. I probably should go ask Uncle to do therapy with me then go to bed.”

“The key is lots of grovelling,” Will advised.

“He’s probably going to whack me extra hard during therapy, grovelling or no,” Jem speculated. “Usually he holds back because he’s afraid of hurting me, but if he’s mad at me, he doesn’t really care that much. On the one hand, it hurts. But on the other, it does wonders to dislodge the mucus from my lungs.”

Will grinned. His friend’s optimism had clearly returned. “Go on then, go and get it over with. You can show me your bruises later.” The boys said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.

After hanging up, Will lay in bed and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. An idea was forming in his head. At length, he leaped out of bed and went to look for his father.

At that time of night, his parents were both relaxing in the living room and watching TV. They smiled when they saw Will and made space for him on the sofa. 

Will went and sat between his parents. “Dad, Mam, I’ve got something to ask you,” he began.

“What is it, son?” his father asked.

“It’s about Jem,” Will continued. “You know he’d been hospitalised right? Well, he’s been discharged now, but he says a nurse has to come round to check on him every few days. And he says his uncle has to stay home from work to take care of him because he’s worried about leaving him alone.”

“Yes, you’ve told us about Jem. I’m glad he’s out of the hospital,” his mother said. 

“Yeah, well, I was thinking…” Will said. “And I want you guys to really consider it before you say ‘no’, okay? I was thinking, couldn’t we help him? We could hire a nurse to take care of him during the day. That way, he can get the therapy and stuff he needs, and his uncle can go to work without worrying so much about him.”

His father was quiet. Will saw that he was deep in thought. His mother, however, said: “Will, that’s a very lovely thought, but I don’t think it’s right for us to do that. I know Jem’s your friend, but that’s all he is. It’s not for us to hire a nurse for him or to take care of him over his uncle. Couldn’t his uncle hire one himself if he wanted to?”

“They can’t afford it. Jem said home help is expensive,” Will explained. “But he really does need to have someone around. You would do it if it were me or Cecily, Mam.”

“Yes, because you’re my children,” his mother rebutted. “Jem isn’t.”

“He’s my brother; we made a pact,” Will told his mother.

“Oh Will,” his mother sighed. “Whatever you may have told him is between you and him. You never spoke to us of this.”

“I thought you liked Jem,” Will said in surprise.

“I do, but I’m not sure I like him enough to make him my son,” his mother explained. “That’s a big step.”

“I’m not saying we have to adopt him,” Will clarified. “I meant just help him when he needs it. He’s helped me loads of times.”

“Did he now?” his father asked. Will clammed up and hoped his father did not ask for details. There were some things he did not want to share with his parents – the incident on the bridge, when he first met Jem, included. Thankfully, his father did not probe.

“Actually, I think it’s a good idea,” his father said. “I’ll have to speak to Mr Carstairs first, of course. Jem is a good boy, and it’s true that he needs our help. I know you wouldn’t ask unless you felt strongly about it. Since we have the means of helping, why not?” He addressed this last question to Will’s mother.

Will threw his arms around his father. “Thank you, Dad!” he exclaimed. “Jem will be so happy!” 

“Don’t get too excited yet, Will,” his father said. “I still need to speak to Mr Carstairs about this. I’ll offer our help but it’s up to him if he wants to accept.”

Will waited in suspense for the next few days. Then one night, Jem called him. Without a word of greeting, Jem demanded: “Will, what did you tell your dad?”

“Hello to you too, Jem,” Will said calmly. “You’re going to have to be more specific. I tell my dad loads of stuff.”

“About me. About a home nurse,” Jem continued. “What did you say?”

“What’s the problem?” 

“Uncle says your dad wants to hire a home nurse for me. That he’s going to pay for it. He also offered me your tutor, so I won’t fall behind in school,“ Jem explained. “Will, is this your doing?”

“I said nothing about a tutor. God knows, I think you study too much as it is. However, I may have had a word with my dad about a nurse,” Will said vaguely.

“Will, it’s far too much! How can your family spend all that money on me?” Jem asked. He sounded overwhelmed.

“Jem, calm down; it’s not a big deal,” Will assured him. “I just wanted to help.”

“It’s a huge deal. I would hug you right now if I could,” Jem said. “Thank you, Will. A thousand thank yous.”


	23. Chapter 23

Jem reported to Will that a nurse from the Philippines had been assigned to come take care of him daily. He sounded miserable again because he had been restarted on IVs, which meant he had to have a tube inside him all the time, had to carry around the IV pump and couldn’t do anything even mildly strenuous.

Will commiserated with his friend, but had other things on his mind. He was in love! He had been assigned the lovely Chloe Ashfield as his partner for design technology class. She was tall, slim, with long hair like a sheet of golden silk. Her skin was smooth like milk and her eyes were a beautiful blue like a summer afternoon sky. Best of all, she was not seeing any other bloke and had to spend time with him every other day in class.

He began to pay more attention in design technology class, just so he would be able to know more and show off a bit when they worked on their project. Chloe herself was extremely capable and did not suffer fools so it was a challenge just to keep up with her. His marks for this subject jumped, much to his parents’ surprise.

He racked his brains on how to chase a girl even though he had no pocket money to spend. He usually ended up giving her the dessert Bridget packed for him for lunch – usually cookies, muffins, chocolate or fruit. Doing this discreetly was no easy task, especially since he had caved in and let Cecily lend him her lunch boxes. The designs on these boxes ran the gamut from Spongebob Square Pants to Lilo and Stitch.

He was manoeuvring this one day, trying to remove his lunch from the yellow Sesame Street box without anyone seeing when Gabriel Lightwood pounced on him. “Hey Herondale, what’re you up to? Stole your sister’s lunchbox?” he taunted. Will ignored this, which made Gabriel needle him more. The boy grabbed Will’s container of strawberries and started eating from it. “Yummy. Mummy packed lovely strawberries today.”

“Give it back, Lightwood,” Will demanded, trying to keep his voice level.

“Shan’t,” Gabriel replied defiantly.

“Fine, keep them. I didn’t want them anyway,” Will said. He threw a quick glance over to the girls’ table, where Chloe was sitting. He hoped she wasn’t watching his current emasculation. 

Gabriel noticed Will’s glance. “Fancy one of the girls?” he teased. “Who’d want to hang out with a loser like you?” Then in a louder voice, he called: “Well, girls? Who thinks Herondale here is a catch?” The girls all burst out laughing. Gabriel then grabbed Will’s lunch box and waved it tauntingly in front of him. “Don’t worry, Herondale, on Sesame Street, everybody loves you,” he mocked, ending the taunt in a high-pitched voice to imitate one of the characters on the show.

Will stood up, clenching his fists. Gabriel saw this and challenged: “Go on then, hit me. I can take you even with only one arm.”

“You couldn’t take me even with both arms in working order,” Will said, reminding him of the incident at the Christmas party. He then turned on his heel and marched out of the lunchroom. He went to a bathroom and started punching the wall in anger, hot tears of frustration rolling down his cheeks.

His knuckles and wrists were screaming in pain when he emerged and headed to his class. It was design tech class, and while Will usually looked forward to it, this time, he wished he could disappear.

Chloe was already there when he slipped into his seat beside her. She placed his lunchbox on his desk. “I got it back for you,” she said kindly. “Gabriel’s a dick. Don’t listen to a word he says; I think you’re a really great guy.”

“Really?” Will asked hopefully.

She nodded. “You’d make a great catch, Will. And that’s no fib.”

Will’s heart swelled with pride. Then, impulsively, he asked: “Would you like to hang out after school? We could go for tea or dinner or something.”

Chloe seemed incredulous at first and giggled. Then she said: “Sure, why not? Tomorrow, let’s hang out after school.”

Will could barely contain his excitement. It was only when he left the school that reality began to sink in – how was he supposed to take a girl out on a date with no money? And technically, he was still grounded, and Thomas was always there to pick him up after school. If Chloe saw that, surely she would think he was just a child who was incapable of going to and from school by himself.

He poured out his woes to Jem over the phone. His friend said simply: “Why don’t you tell your dad the situation? Maybe he’ll give you some money and let you off your grounding.”

“Tell my dad about Chloe? The horror!” Will lamented. “What am I going to do, Jem? This is a real girl I’m talking about!”

“As opposed to what? A robot girl?” Jem asked drily.

“Ugh. Keep your kinkiness to yourself, Jem,” Will said. “I’m serious. Help me here!”

Jem was quiet for a moment. Then he suggested: “I could give you some money for your date. I don’t have much, but it should buy you some nice sandwiches and snacks. Maybe you could bring her to Hyde Park for a picnic.”

Will frowned. “Chloe doesn’t seem the picnic sort of girl. She’s cool.”

“And picnics aren’t?”

“No, Jem, they’re not. Not when you’re a guy trying to impress a girl,” Will explained with mock patience.

“So that’s what I’ve been doing wrong all this time,” Jem said with total seriousness before he began giggling. He coughed a little then said: “Look, if all the guys bring her out for a movie and dinner, it’s too typical. You want something not typical so you can impress her. A picnic’s different – Oh, you could also take her to the SkyGarden! That’s free.”

“Are you Googling ideas right now?” Will asked suspiciously.

“Maybe,” Jem said vaguely. “You should try that. It’s turning out really good stuff. I almost wish I had a girlfriend so I could go see these things too.”

Will took Jem’s advice and Googled. Finally he hit upon a place that seemed quite nice, on the South Bank and within his budget. Then he had to figure out how he was going to get to Jem, who was going to finance his date. He ended up having to sneak out of the house that night. That was the most perilous part of his plan, for if his father caught him, there would be hell to pay.

Thankfully, it all went without a hitch. Jem handed him 34 pounds in notes and coins without asking how he managed to leave the house, and he made it back before anyone noticed he was gone.

The next day, he was absolutely eager to get to school. He barely paid any attention in class and was bouncing with excitement by the time the final hours of lessons dragged by.

When the final bell rang, Will was out of the classroom like a shot. He met Chloe in the entryway. “Where are we going?” she asked as they walked out of the school. Will lied to Thomas that he had extra classes and activities that day so the older man was not waiting for him as usual.

Chloe was trying to flag down a cab, which made Will instantly anxious. 34 pounds would not go very far if cab rides had to be factored in. He gently pulled her hand down. “It’s easier if we take the Tube,” he said.

“The Tube?” she repeated. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust. 

Will’s heart sank. “Yeah. It’ll be fun.”

She gave in and followed him to the train station, where Will had to buy her a ticket to travel as she did not have an Oyster card. They went over to the South Bank and Will led them round the back of one of the buildings. Over one of the doors was the sign “London Escape Rooms”. 

“I’ve heard of these,” Chloe said. “It sounds fun.”

“I hope it will be,” Will said in relief. “Come on.”

Since it was just the two of them, they did not meet the minimum of three needed to use a room, so they had to wait until a party of four turned up and they joined in. Chloe did not seem pleased at the delay and asked why he had not just invited someone else along so they made up three.

In fact, she did not seem pleased throughout the rest of the afternoon. The escape room they were given was built to look like an old haunted house, with a coffin in a corner, a dusty sofa and armchair in the middle of the room, and a large sideboard and chest of drawers at the side. The puzzles were difficult, and the other party did not put in any effort to solve them, preferring rather to sit around and make fun of everything.

Will struggled to save the situation and he even managed to solve three puzzles before the time was up. He and Chloe stumbled gratefully out of the building afterwards. In an effort to save his date, Will suggested going to a coffee shop for tea.

They ended up at Starbucks where Chloe ordered a caramel frappe and a cheesecake. Will was counting pennies at this point and ordered the cheapest drink, which was a cup of black tea. Chloe gave him a weird look when he returned with the drinks.

There was not much for them to talk about. Will tried to strike up a conversation, but beyond school work, Chloe did not seem to want to say much. They finished their drinks in awkward silence. 

Chloe hailed a cab for herself when they got to the main road. She said she had a headache and wanted to go home. Will had pretty much run out of money by then, so he was almost glad that she did not make him go with her. He saw the taxi off and then dejectedly made his way back to the train station.


	24. Chapter 24

Instead of heading back to school to wait for Thomas, Will went to Jem’s house. He knocked on the door and a Filipino woman opened it. “Yes? Who are you?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m looking for Jem,” Will demanded, not bothering to be polite. 

The woman stared at him, then apparently decided he was not a threat and let him in. “Jem is upstairs,” she said, leading the way.

Jem was in his room. He was sitting on his bed and had his vibrating vest on as well as his headphones. He was visibly startled when he saw Will. “Will? What are you doing here? I thought you were going out with Chloe,” he asked.

Will flopped down onto the bed across from Jem. “It was the most horrible two hours of my life, Jem,” he said dramatically. “Seriously, I wish I could erase it from my memory. If anyone ever needed a rewind button in life, it’s me. Distract me, Jem! I need distracting.”

“I’m going to do therapy after the vest. You could help me,” Jem suggested.

The Filipino woman came back and Jem introduced her as Evelyn, his home nurse. She was much more friendly now that she knew Will was Jem’s friend. She helped Jem to remove the vest and then gave Will instructions on how to do Jem’s therapy. It was not difficult. Jem lay face down on his bed and Will just had to pound regularly on his back.

Will knew how to play the drums, so he knew how to keep a regular rhythm. But pounding on Jem was tiring. He had to keep it up a firm rhythm for about three minutes, then Jem would sit up and breathe deeply and cough the mucus out. The process would then be repeated six times on different spots of Jem’s upper body.

Doing Jem’s therapy was certainly a distraction for Will. His friend was so painfully thin and Will was afraid of hurting him. Every time Jem coughed, Will panicked. He knew there was nothing to worry about, for Evelyn was standing by supervising the whole time, but it still scared him to hear his friend coughing so badly.

When it was finally over, Jem smiled Will. “Thanks,” he said. “You’re good at this.”

“That was the most terrifying thing I ever had to do in my life,” Will responded seriously.

Jem laughed. “I have to do it four times a day these days. Uncle helps me in the morning and night. Evelyn does it in the day time. It helps a lot. Loosens up a lot of the gunk inside.” He hopped off the bed. “Are you going to stay for dinner, Will?” he asked.

“What are we having?”

“Chicken and broccoli soup and rice,” Jem said.

Will pulled a face. “Do you ever eat solid food, Jem?” he asked in mock despair.

“Hey, soup is delicious. Do not look down on the soup,” Jem scolded.

“I sincerely apologise to the soup then, but I think I might pass,” Will declined.

However, he ended up staying after Elias and Colette came home and found him and insisted that he stay. All of them ate in the living room while watching a dvd of Fantasia. 

Will was bored with the classical music. Jem looked utterly fascinated though. Then it came to the Rite Of Spring piece. The music was set to animation that showed sea-dwelling creatures evolving into dinosaurs. It showed fish crawling out of the water, their fins growing into legs as they moved, and their necks and tails lengthening into brontosaurus proportions. Watching it, Will was struck an idea for his design tech project.

He began to imagine making a wooden toy – it would start out as a fish, then the body, legs, neck and tail would open up and lengthen like a telescope and transform into a brontosaurus, to show the evolution. He was so excited by his idea that he jumped up to find a piece of paper to jot down his idea, upsetting Jem’s bowl of soup in the process.

The next day in school, Will ran into his design tech class and slapped down the paper in front of Chloe. “Chloe!” he exclaimed. “I’ve had the best idea for our project!” 

Chloe bent over his paper and examined Will’s design. “I don’t know, Will, this looks very complicated,” she said doubtfully.

“That’s why it’s so awesome!” Will insisted. “Look, we can do it, just make sure the pieces are all the right size.”

“Maybe,” she agreed reluctantly. She pushed the paper aside. “Will, listen,” she said. “Yesterday, was that supposed to be a date?”

Will blushed. He slowly nodded. “Yeah. Worse date ever, eh?” he said.

“Oh Will, I’m so sorry, but you’re not my type,” she said. “I hope we can still be friends, though. You’re a cool guy to have as a friend.”

Will was spared the need to answer by the teacher walking in and starting the lesson. He sat as far away from Chloe as he could and looked steadfastly in the opposite direction. His first crush on a girl and she had crushed all his daydreams with those few words.

He went to Jem’s again after school. Jem was having lessons with Mr Walker when Will arrived, but Evelyn let him in anyway and gave him a peanut butter sandwich.

After about an hour, Mr Walker entered the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He saw Will and said: “Hello, Will, it’s been a while since I last saw you. How’re your studies coming along?”

Will squirmed. “It’s… coming along,” he answered. His grades were not as bad as they used to be, now that he tried to put in some effort, but they were certainly not stellar.

Mr Walker chuckled. “I’m no longer your tutor, so you don’t have to worry about telling me,” he said. “Though I wish you were as good a student as your friend Jem.”

“Jem’s better than me in every way,” Will said.

“You guys talking about me?” Jem asked as he too entered the kitchen.

“Just saying what a good student you are,” Mr Walker said. He finished his water then said: “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jem. Remember to do your homework.”

“You get homework?” Will asked incredulously.

“It’s lessons, Will. Not for fun,” Mr Walker pointed out. 

“But Jem’s ill. He shouldn’t get homework,” Will rebutted.

“Will…” Jem began, shaking his head in exasperation. “I have cystic fibrosis. I’m not dead.” Will rolled his eyes but Jem ignored it. “Did you want to talk to me?”

“Yeah, can we go to your room?” Will asked, dragging Jem out before his friend could reply.

They went up to Jem’s room. “Will, what’s going on?“ Jem asked.

“Didn’t want anyone else to hear,” Will said, shutting the door behind them. He turned and faced Jem. “I talked to Chloe today. I got friend-zoned. I knew it was coming but it still sucks.”

“I’m sorry, Will,” Jem sympathised. “I know you quite liked her.”

“She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved,” Will said despondently, throwing himself onto the bed. “There’ll never be another like her.”

“I know,” Jem said, patting gently Will on the back.

“Maybe I should have taken her to the park, like you said. Maybe that was where I went wrong. Next time I don’t listen to you, slap me and remind me of this incident,” Will ranted.

“Okay.”

“What am I going to do, Jem? My heart is broken into a million tiny fragments. Shattered. I can’t face her ever again,” Will lamented.

“Let’s go downstairs for some cake,” Jem suggested.

“Cake,” Will huffed. “Cake cannot minister to a mind diseased, in a world that’s crumbled into pieces.”

“Isn’t that from a movie?” Jem asked, opening the door and waiting for Will to get up. “It reminds me of something I might have watched.”

“Anne Of Green Gables,” Will informed his friend. “But the quote is originally from Shakespeare.”

“You must be feeling better if you can quote stuff at me,” Jem observed drily. He put his hands on his friend’s shoulders and steered him down the stairs. “Come on, Will. Chocolate pound cake and tea is perfect for lifting one’s spirits, no matter the state of the world. I guarantee it.”


	25. Chapter 25

Will and Cecily climbed out of the car outside Jem’s house. It was Saturday and they were here to celebrate Jem’s 16th birthday, which was a few days ago on Jan 10. Jem had decided to hold off on celebrations until the weekend so that no one would have to rush off because of school the next day.

Not that there were many guests anyway. When Jem opened the door, Will found it was just Elias, Colette and a couple of Colette’s relatives – two boys and a girl, all of whom were slightly younger than Jem but a million times more boisterous. They mostly kept to themselves and were currently fighting over whose turn it was to play with Jem’s Xbox.

The living room was not big but Jem, Will and Cecily found a corner to sit in. Jem looked extremely excited and happy. He wore a colourful striped sweater, which was very loose and perfect to hide the IV bag he had to carry around. 

First, Cecily gave Jem her present. It was a charm bracelet made from the kit he had given her at Christmas. It was a thick black band, off of which hung clear plastic beads and a blue star, which Cecily had dipped in glitter glue so that it shone. Jem put it on right away. 

Will handed over his present with a grin. Jem carefully opened the wrapping paper to uncover packets of instant soup, of various brands and flavours. He laughed hard at this jibe Will was taking at his love of soup.

“I thought of getting you a soup cookbook,” Will elaborated. “But I figured you’d prefer something easier.”

“I’ll think of you every time I make a cup of soup,” Jem vowed as he browsed through the different flavours.

“Are you guys ready for cake?” Colette called, poking her head into the living room. 

All the kids were, and there was a mad rush into the kitchen. Elias presided over a large chocolate cake and he ushered Jem over to the head of the table. Jem looked very shy to be the centre of attention. Colette drew the curtains to darken the room, lit the candles and led everyone in song. Jem’s smile grew wider with each successive line.

At the end, Jem clasped his hands together and shut his eyes to make a wish. There was silence for a moment, then he opened his eyes and blew. There were 16 candles on the cake, but he was able to blow out only a few before he began to cough. His smile fell.

But Elias picked up the slack and helped his nephew to blow out the rest of the candles. He gave Jem a huge hug and kiss, then released him so he could make the first cut on the cake. Everyone applauded. Colette took over cutting the cake and the guests thronged forward for a slice.

Jem slipped away in the commotion. Will noticed and went after his friend, catching up to him as he mounted the stairs. “Jem? What’s wrong?” Will asked.

Jem smiled, but it was clear that he was faking it. “It’s nothing. I just needed some air,” he said.

“Jem,” Will said, climbing up the stairs too so he was on a level with his friend. “It’s okay, you know, to be upset.”

“What am I upset about?” Jem asked.

“I don’t know. Being unable to blow out all the candles, being ill,” Will suggested. “What did you wish for, Jem?”

“To get better,” Jem replied. He sat down on the top stair and continued: “I hate being sick. I’m such a burden on Uncle and Colette. They have done so much for me. I just want to make them happy. That’s why I agreed to this party. They wanted to do something special. Sweet 16 and all that. Don’t get me wrong, I love having you guys over. But the truth is, I hate celebrating my birthday.”

Will sat next to his friend. “Your parents?” he asked gently. Jem nodded. Will put an arm around his friend as Jem buried his head into his knees. At length, he said: “Come on, you’ve been away long enough. It’s time to get back to the party. There’s chocolate cake. It’ll make you feel better. You guaranteed it.”

Jem gave Will a weak smile upon hearing his own words thrown back at him. They returned to the kitchen and saw Elias’ relieved expression when he spotted Jem come in.

“Jem! Here’s your cake,” Elias said, presenting his nephew with a huge slice of chocolate cake. A “Happy Birthday” sign was stuck into it. “The kids were going to eat it all – the little savages – but we managed to save you some. Will, sorry, you’re going to have to fight off the beasts for your share.”

Will glanced over at the other young guests. Cecily was already right in the thick of things and making friends with everyone. But it was clear she wouldn’t care to fight for her brother’s right to cake.

Jem noticed and also assessed the situation. “Will can share my slice with me,” he said. He grabbed two forks and gave Will one. “Come on, Will. I can’t finish this by myself. It looks like half the cake.”

The boys perched on the kitchen counter and shared the rich chocolate cake. A pizza deliveryman arrived soon afterwards and Will fought his way through the mass of people to grab food for himself and Jem. Jem seemed to have recovered his good spirits as he cheered Will on.

Colette took her relatives home after pizza and the house grew a hundred times more peaceful. Jem, Will and Cecily went outside to play with Jem’s new skateboard. It was a bright yellow plastic skateboard with neon green wheels that Elias had given him, in an effort to help Jem get more fresh air outside without exerting himself too much.

None of the trio had ever ridden a skateboard before. Jem did not even know how to ride a bike. They put the board down on the pavement and surrounded it, inspecting it like it was a wild animal. No one seemed to want to be the first to get on.

“Well, Jem,” Will said. “Go on, do the honours. It’s your board.” Jem grimaced and got on. The board wobbled precariously but eventually stabilised. He gave Will a thumbs up. “Try to move,” Will suggested.

Jem put a foot down and instantly fell off the board as it moved when his weight shifted. “Ow,” he said. “I didn’t know it would be so responsive.”

“You all right, mate?” Will asked, helping him up.

“Fine,” Jem said. He replaced the skateboard with a determined expression. “Let me try again.”

He got on the board again and experimented with shifting his weight around. His arms were all flailed out in an attempt to keep his balance. He put a foot down gingerly and gave a tiny push.

The board moved and he managed to stay on for a few seconds before losing his balance and falling again. “Did you see that?” he asked, laughing loudly. “It worked! I moved!”

“Go on, try it again!” Will encouraged.

Jem did so, and gave a harder push. This time, he was ready for the movement and he sped down the pavement. He had his feet in a stable position, like when he was doing fencing, and was balancing perfectly. To anyone watching, it was just another kid moving slowly on a skateboard, but to Jem, felt exhilarating to be able to move faster than a walk and feel the wind blowing at him without him getting tired. Will and Cecily ran along after him, cheering him on.

The problem came when he got to the end of the street. “Will! I don’t know how to stop!” Jem realised.

Will reached out to grab his arm. Because of the momentum, all he did was yank Jem off the skateboard and cause the skateboard to go flying. Jem landed on top of Will. The boys were too stunned to move and Cecily had to go and retrieve the board. She returned whizzing on the board, looking graceful and poised.

“That’s not fair!” Will pointed out. “Why do you look like you’ve spent your whole life on the skateboard, even though it’s your first time on it?”

“Because I’m wonderful,” Cecily explained. She stopped in front of Jem and hopped off the board. “You’ve got to find your centre of balance,” she advised.

“Will, why don’t you have a go?” Jem offered.

Will needed no further prompting. He got on the board so fast that he had no time to balance himself and he immediately fell off. “Shut up,” he growled at Cecily who was hooting with laughter.

Jem held out a hand to pull his friend up. “On your feet, soldier,” he ordered. “We’ll conquer this board yet.”


	26. Chapter 26

As a birthday treat for Jem, Will was sleeping over and the two boys pretended to be camping. They had a tent set up in the living room, gathered flashlights and sleeping bags, and drank mugs of hot thick soup for supper. The radiators were turned down low to simulate being outside but still ensuring there was some warmth, for Jem’s sake.

The boys were both tired, though too keyed up to sleep. Earlier that day, they spent a lot of time running up and down and falling onto the pavement outside with Jem’s new skateboard. Now, Will taught Jem how to play the card game Go Fish and they went through several rounds before they both were lulled into sleepiness by the warmth and cosiness of their tent. The boys had piled cushions, blankets and quilts everywhere, burrowed into them and fell asleep.

Will woke in the middle of the night. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. He was sure he heard something that woke him up, but he did not know what it was. He glanced over at Jem, and saw that his friend was sleeping soundly. The sock monkey Mr Bingo Banana Beans was resting against his head and Will grinned to see it.

He stayed quiet and listened for a few seconds. Then Jem’s IV pump gave a loud hiss that broke through the silence, startling Will. He let out a breath that he did not realise he was holding. He decided that it must have been the pump that woke him, and settled down in his nest of quilts and cushions again.

He was about to drift off to sleep when he heard a sound. It was like a scratching and squeaking coming from the hallway outside. Will tensed up. He hoped it was not a mouse. He got up, pulled open the tent flap and crept out. The scratching came again, emanating from the front door. Will froze. He had no idea what to do if it was a burglar. The scratching started up again, and there was some whining sounds too.

Will ran back to the living room and shook Jem awake. “Jem! Jem! Wake up, there’s something at the front door!” he whispered loudly.

Jem cracked open his eyes. “Someone at the door?” he repeated sleepily. 

“Something!” Will hissed. “It’s making a scratching and whining noise. I think it’s a burglar.”

“A burglar won’t be making those noises, Will,” Jem said. He sat up and began to cough.

Will shushed him urgently. “Shhh!! Don’t let them know we know they’re there.”

“Will, I’m sure it’s not a burglar,” Jem said. He got up and went confidently towards the door.

“Jem, wait!” Will whispered, grabbing the back of his friend’s pyjamas. He rushed to the kitchen and returned holding a saucepan as a weapon. Jem stared at him. “Just in case,” Will shrugged.

Jem rolled his eyes and went to the door. The scratching sound started up again. Jem unlatched the door and opened it a little. A brown and white thing poked through the opening. Will took a step back.

“Will, it’s fine,” Jem said, and opened the door fully. In bounded a brown and white mongrel dog, which immediately began sniffing everywhere. Will looked at his friend uncertainly. “I call him Trevor. He comes round in the daytime sometimes and I feed him. Two days ago, I gave him a bath,” Jem explained. He knelt down and the dog came to him and licked his face. “He feels cold. That’s probably why he came here tonight.” He locked the door again and led the dog into the living room.

“You’re not keeping him!” Will exclaimed, seeing Jem open the tent flap for the dog to enter.

“But he’s freezing, Will,” Jem argued. “Look, I’ll put a blanket round him so it’s clean.” And Jem picked up a pink and white striped blanket and tossed it over the dog. The dog did not react. “See, it’s fine,” Jem said as he crawled back into the tent.

Will hesitantly moved to the tent and peered in. Jem had laid back down on his side and the dog was lying next to him, right in the middle of the tent. This meant that Will would be next to the dog too, when he got in. “Jem, are you sure about this?”

“Stop fretting, Will,” Jem scolded sleepily. “I’ll get up a bit earlier in the morning to let him out before Uncle finds out he’s here.”

“Your uncle doesn’t know you take in stray dogs?” Will clarified.

“Not really. He isn’t an animal person. And he thinks I might pick up infections from them,” Jem explained. “But look at him!” he took the dog’s head in his hands. “He’s so adorable and loving and he came to us for help. How could I turn him away?” The dog looked up at Will with melting brown eyes.

Will knew this was a fight he could not win. “Fine,” he gave in and crawled into the tent. Jem grinned widely at him. “But if he chomps on my neck in the middle of the night, I’m going to take it very personally,” Will warned.

“He won’t bite, will you, Trevor?” Jem said, stroking the dog’s head. The dog licked his cheek. “Yes, I love you too.”

“Ugh, stop talking to the dog like that; it’s freaking me out,” Will said. Jem laughed but stopped talking. Silence fell over the room. Will listened to the sound of all of them breathing until he fell asleep.

The sun was already up when Will woke. He rolled over and his hand hit something firm and warm. He was immediately confronted by a faceful of dog growling at him. Will hastily withdrew his hand and retreated back as far as he could. Jem was still soundly asleep and happily cuddling the dog. Will reached over to try and touch his friend’s shoulder to wake him up, but the dog raised his head and growled protectively. 

“Okay, fine, I’ll leave you two alone,” Will said, lifting his hands in mock surrender. 

He knew Jem had to get the dog out before his uncle woke up. So he picked up a cushion and threw it at Jem’s head. It connected and the dog barked fiercely at Will. Jem jerked awake and exclaimed: “What is it? What’s going on?”

The dog continued to bark at Will who shouted at it: “Shut up! Stop it! Bad dog!”

Jem put a hand on the dog to calm it. “Will, what are you doing?” he asked. 

“He tried to bite me!”

“Did you just throw a cushion at me?” Jem asked in amazement when he discovered the extra cushion on his side.

“I thought you wanted to wake up earlier to let the dog out before your uncle sees it,” Will explained.

“You didn’t have to throw things at me.”

“The dog wouldn’t let me touch you,” Will pointed out in exasperation. The dog began growling at Will again, this time showing a bit of teeth. “See! He’s doing it again!”

“He doesn’t mean it, do you, Trevor?” Jem asked, caressing the dog. The dog turned and licked his face. 

Will made a face. “Just let him out, will you?”

Jem sighed. “Fine,” he agreed. He tried to get up but was overwhelmed by a fit of coughing. He braced himself against the dog and the dog stood protectively next to him, while continuing to growl at Will. Between the fits of coughing, Jem said: “Will, I think I hear my uncle getting up. Take the dog and put him out for me, will you?”

Will looked at his friend as though he had just grown another head. “Me?” he asked in amazement. 

“Yes. Just grab the back of his neck and lead him to the door,” Jem said, pushing the dog towards Will. 

Will grimaced and cautiously approached the dog. He grabbed the dog’s scruff and firmly dragged the dog out. The dog tried to resist and barked loudly. “Shh! Shut up. There’s a good dog,” Will coaxed. Opening the door was difficult, as he had to do it one-handed. The dog almost got away from him then. But he managed to get it open and he used his foot to nudge the dog out and shut the door on him. 

He was just in time for the second the door shut, Jem’s uncle came down the stairs. “Will, is everthing all right? I thought I heard a noise,” Elias inquired.

“Everything’s fine, Mr Carstairs,” Will said, discreetly kicking the door where he heard the dog scratching again. “We were watching a video on my phone. About animals.”

“In the hallway?” Elias asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Will looked around and decided to keep things simple. “Yes,” he replied matter-of-factly.

Elias looked suspiciously at him then decided to let it go. “Okay then. Try to keep it down. It’s too early for all this noise.”

“Sure,” Will agreed and gratefully watched as Jem’s uncle went back upstairs. 

Jem poked his head round the living room door. “Everything okay, Will?” he asked innocently.

Will stuck out his tongue at his friend. “This is all your fault,” he said. “Now your uncle thinks I’m a nutter.”

“I hate to break it to you, Will, but you really are a lunatic,“ Jem informed him.

“Did you have a meeting to decide that?” Will asked.

“Yup. Everyone who knows you was there. It was a unanimous decision. And the meeting’s biannual,” Jem said with a grin.

Will walked back to the living room and elbowed his friend. “You’re the nutter. Shut up and go back to sleep. Will Herondale does not wake up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday.”


	27. Chapter 27

Will forgot about the encounter with the dog until about a week later. He was at home, doing his homework in his room when his phone beeped. It was a message from Jem: “Are you home? I’m outside the house. Let me in please.”

He frowned at the message. Jem had almost finished his course of IV medicines, and was feeling much better these days and was able to go out, but it was unlike him to show up without any notice. Nevertheless, Will went downstairs and opened the front door.

Jem was there, looking sheepish, and next to him was Trevor the mongrel dog, with a piece of thick twine around his neck like a leash. The dog let out a “wuff” when he saw Will.

“Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is,” Will said nervously.

Jem looked even more apologetic. “Uncle found out about Trevor,” he explained. “He keeps coming back to my house. Uncle threatened to call the Council to catch him if he finds him in the house again. I can’t just put him back out on the street. So, I thought, maybe, could you keep him?”

Will sighed heavily. “Come on in, we’ll discuss this,” he said, standing aside so boy and dog could enter.

“I can’t stay too long,” Jem said worriedly. 

“You’re the one who brought the dog here. You’re staying until we figure out what to do with him,” Will insisted.

They tried to be quiet as they went through the house, but the dog’s nails clicked loudly on the hardwood floor. It attracted Cecily’s attention when they passed her room and she came bounding out. “Is that a dog?” she demanded.

“No, it’s an elephant,” Will said, rolling his eyes.

“What’s it doing here?” Cecily asked, ignoring her brother’s comment.

Jem looked at Will for a cue but his friend remained stubbornly silent. “I’m hoping Will could take care of him for me,” he explained.

“Oh, he’s your dog?” Cecily knelt down and held her hand out. The dog sniffed then licked it. “He’s so nice. Can we keep him, Will?”

Will put a hand up to massage his temples. “What will Mam and Dad say?”

“They’ll say okay. You know they like dogs,” Cecily said. “What’s his name?” she asked Jem.

“Trevor,” Jem said.

“We are not keeping the dog,” Will insisted, emphasising every word. The dog growled at him.

“You keep scaring him, that’s why he doesn’t like you,” Jem pointed out.

“I’m not scaring him. He just doesn’t like me because he’s a stupid dog,” Will argued.

“You’re the stupid one. He’s a good dog,” Cecily rebutted. 

Will gaped at her in outrage. “You’re choosing the dog over me? Your own beloved brother? And Jem? Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!” He dramatically fell against Jem, catching hold of him to arrest his fall. The dog immediately clamped down on his leg causing Will to really fall to the floor. “Ow!! Jem! Call off your damn dog! He bit me!” he yelled.

Jem pulled the dog off Will. “Are you all right, Will?” he asked with much concern. He knelt and examined Will’s leg carefully. His jeans were torn and his skin was bruised, though not punctured.

Will glared at the dog with a face like thunder. He pointed an accusing finger at the dog. “He’s not staying,” he said firmly.

“Okay,” Jem agreed.

“Okay?” Will repeated incredulously. “That’s it? I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

“Will, he bit you. I wouldn’t choose him over you. I thought you knew that,” Jem told his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder in an affirmative gesture.

Will was touched. He reached up to touch Jem’s hand and smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “I thought I was going to have to bodily throw him out. So what’re you going to do with him?”

Jem shrugged. “I guess I’ll just take him to the RSPCA.”

“No, you know what? Cecily, take him to that house round the corner, you know, the one where a billion dogs start barking every time we walk past?” Will ordered his sister who had been hovering around them.

“They only bark at you, Will,” Cecily informed her brother. “I think animals just don’t like you. First the ducks, then the cats, now dogs…” She listed all the animals that Will ever had a bad encounter with over the years. She grabbed at Trevor’s makeshift leash. “Be right back!” she announced.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Jem asked quickly.

“Nope. I’m fine,” Cecily said and disappeared down the stairs. The dog trotted obediently after her.

Jem turned back to Will. “Are you all right, Will? Can you stand?” he asked.

Will hauled himself to his feet. “Fine,” he said. “Are you really going to give up that dog for me?”

“Of course,” Jem assured him. “Will, you’re my brother. You’re family. Family comes first and is above all else.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Will noted.

“It is simple,” Jem insisted. “Take you and Cecily. When push comes to shove, you’d do anything for her, wouldn’t you?”

“You know she fancies you, right?” Will asked suddenly.

Jem giggled then blushed. “I suspected that,” he admitted.

“For what it’s worth, I give you my blessing,” Will said.

Jem laughed. “The shock from Tervor biting you must only now be setting in. The Will Herondale I know wouldn’t let anyone near his sister.”

“Just you,” Will clarified, poking Jem lightly in the chest.

“I don’t see her that way. She’s more like a little sister to me,” Jem said. “Have I been doing anything to encourage her?” he asked worriedly.

Will shook his head. “Not consciously I think. I think she’s turned you into some kind of romantic tragic-hero in her head.”

Jem laughed again. “I’m flattered,” he said. “Did you have this talk with Cecily too?” 

“Are you kidding? She’ll sooner kill me than talk to me about this,” Will said.

They heard the front door open and stopped talking. Moments later, Cecily came thundering up the stairs. “Done. Tenner’s got a home,” she announced.

“Who?” Will asked.

“Tenner. The dog. Remember him?” Cecily asked sarcastically. “Did he bite out a bit of your brains too?”

“His name’s not Tenner. It’s Trevor,” Will corrected. “Now who’s being stupid?”

“I think he’s in shock,” Jem quickly added before Will could throw out more insults. “Thanks for taking Trevor to a good home, Cecily,” he said. Cecily grinned up at him. Jem took a step back towards Will. “I guess I should go before Evelyn gets worried,” he said.

“I’ll get Thomas to drive you,” Will said. 

“I want to come!” Cecily exclaimed.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Will asked.

“Don’t you?” his sister argued back.

“Guys, please don’t fight,” Jem said, pinching the bridge of his nose as though he had a headache. “I can go home by myself just fine.”

Will insisted on Thomas driving Jem back home though, and the two Herondale siblings compromised by waving Jem off from their front door.


	28. Chapter 28

Will was digging hungrily into his fried chicken sandwich in the school cafeteria during lunch one day when Chloe came up and sat across the table from him. She put her elbows on the table and leaned in close to him, her long silky golden hair hovering dangerously close to his sandwich.

“Hey Will!” she said in a sunny voice. “Would you like to go on a date?”

Will blinked at her. His mind struggled to process that question. He thought she said “date” but her presence might have befuddled him. Maybe she had just asked him if he would like some cake. “What?” he stammered.

Chloe smiled a dazzling smile. The expression on her face was like one which people usually gave small children who did not understand what was going on. “Would you like to go on a date?” she repeated slowly.

“With you?” Will asked in surprise.

Chloe laughed. “Bless. But, no. I actually meant Hannah,” she said.

Hannah was another one of the girls in Will’s year. She was also beautiful, with shiny chestnut brown hair that cascaded in curls over her shoulders. She had been dating one of the school’s football players. It had been rumoured that the two had recently split, though no one was certain why. But the only thing the blokes cared about was that this gorgeous specimen of the female sex was currently single and available.

Will’s eyebrows shot up so high that they almost disappeared into his hair. “Why would she want to go on a date with me?” he asked.

“You know how she dumped that jerk last week?” Chloe began. “Well, she thought she should try dating guys that may not quite be her type. You know, the ‘opposites attract’ thing. So instead of going for the loud, popular guys, she wants to go the opposite. You know, guys who are... well, guys who are like you.”

“Are you saying I’m quiet and unpopular?” Will asked indignantly. “I’m not quiet. And I’m very popular!”

Chloe’s expression turned into one of amusement. “Sorry to burst your bubble, Will, but you’re really quiet. And you’re sitting here by yourself. Alone. At lunchtime.”

“Shut up,” Will said, feeling hurt. He frowned and looked down at his sandwich.

“Will, I’m sorry. I did try to be delicate,” Chloe apologised. “And I didn’t mean it that way. I meant the guys who are a bit quieter, who don’t usually hog the spotlight. You know? The ones who are more modest and humble, but also nice and sweet. I thought you fit the bill. That’s why I immediately thought of you.”

Will grudgingly accepted this explanation. “Thanks, I guess,” he said. 

“So, do you want to go on a date with Hannah or not?” Chloe repeated her original question.

Will shook his head. He had never really been interested in Hannah, since she had never given him a second look and probably didn’t even know he was alive.

Chloe sighed. She scanned the cafeteria. “Who else do you think is suitable?” she asked conversationally. 

That was when an idea sparked in Will’s head. “I have the perfect person in mind,” he said. “He’s a real gentleman.”

A week later, on a Saturday, he and Jem stood at Waterloo train station, waiting for the girls. It was the day before Will’s birthday. He had decided to take a day trip out to Twickenham to visit Strawberry Hill House. It was a gothic revival villa that was the inspiration for one of Will’s favourite books – The Castle of Otranto. He told Jem that he wanted to visit the house as a birthday treat and Jem gamely agreed to accompany him. At the train station, Will mentioned that some friends from school would also be going with them.

“Who are your friends, again?” Jem asked as they stared at the passing crowd.

“You know about Chloe. And the other is another girl in my class, Hannah,” Will said. Besides springing the girls on Jem at the last minute, he had also conveniently neglected to tell him that he was being set up for a blind date, knowing that Jem would probably refuse if he knew.

“Isn’t it a little awkward? I don’t know either of them,” Jem said nervously.

“Jem, relax, they’re nice people,” Will assured him, crossing his fingers that Hannah would be nice. Chloe had already promised to be on her best behaviour so as not to scare Jem. “Anyway, it’d do you good to make more friends.”

Jem smiled crookedly, like he did when he was unsure.

Will checked his watch. The girls were late. There were only four trains an hour going out to Strawberry Hill, and train would be leaving shortly. Finally, he spotted the pair hurrying through the crowd. They were both dressed alike, in capri pants, tank tops and jackets. Chloe carried a small backpack while Hannah had a purse. 

Will did quick introductions, then grabbed Chloe’s hand and led the way to the platform, forcing Jem and Hannah to team up immediately to avoid getting lost in the crowd. In the train, he made sure the pair sat together as well.

“What do you think?” Will whispered to Chloe, nodding at Jem and Hannah, when they were about 10 minutes into their journey. They were sitting across the aisle and about two rows behind the pair.

“Too soon to tell yet,” Chloe assessed. “But Jem seems really darling. I want to give him a hug and pet his head.”

Will rolled his eyes. “He’s not a dog,” he reminded her.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Chloe fired back. She leaned over to the aisle to try and see what was going on. So far, all she could tell was that Jem had gallantly offered Hannah the window seat, and the pair were talking. However, they were too far away to make out what they were talking about.

It was a 10-minute walk from Strawberry Hill station to the house. As they walked, Will and Chloe again made sure there was plenty of opportunity for Jem and Hannah to talk and interact. Inside the house, there were few visitors, which meant they could linger in the rooms as long as they liked. Will was an excellent guide, using both the self-guide brochure and rattling off excerpts from The Castle of Otranto to entertain them all.

After exploring the house, they went to the Cloister Coffee House for lunch. As Will and Jem queued to order the food, Will asked: “What do you think of Hannah, Jem?”

Jem smiled. “She’s nice,” he said.

“That’s it?” Will prompted.

“Very nice?” Jem tried again.

“Ah, love. It makes poets of us all,” Will joked.

Jem rolled his eyes. “You’re mad,” he said.

“Do you like her?” Will asked.

“Sure,” Jem said. “She’s nice.”

Will shook his head. He thought it unlikely that he would get any more adjectives out of Jem for the time being. He focused on ordering the food and bringing it back to the table. The girls started giggling when they returned. 

“Something funny?” Will asked.

“Nope, nothing,” Chloe said innocently. Hannah caught Jem’s eye and caused the boy to blush.

In the afternoon, they wandered around the gardens. It was a large and rambling estate and was currently hosting an exhibition of contemporary art sculptures. It was like walking through a bizarre Alice in Wonderland dreamscape. 

Unfortunately, the April showers caught up with them, and the four had to make a dash back to the house for shelter. Jem began coughing a little but managed to stop before the girls got too concerned. They returned to the station to catch the train back London when the rain stopped.

“Well, thanks for the lovely time, Will,” Chloe said when they left the train platform in London. “It was way better than that weird place you took me to last time.” Will blushed hard at that. “Thanks for introducing Jem too. I hope they work out. They’re so sweet together.”

Will looked over to Jem and Hannah. The girl was currently giving him a hug. Jem was awkward and looked like he did not know what to do with his hands. She let go and chucked him under the chin. Jem turned bright red at that. Hannah laughed, took his hand and walked over to Will and Chloe.

“I guess we should be going then,” Chloe said, taking Hannah’s hand. “Bye Will, bye Jem!” 

With that, the two girls disappeared into the crowd.


	29. Chapter 29

After the girls left, Will invited Jem back to his house for a pizza dinner and birthday cake. The boys talked about their outing on the way back, discussing the architectural features and history of Strawberry Hill House. Will wanted to talk about the girls but Jem did not seem forthcoming on that subject, so he held his tongue.

Cecily was overjoyed to see Jem again and kept bouncing around and hanging on to his every word, even though he did not say much. Jem was clearly tired and he spent most of the time quietly on the sofa, happy to let Will be the centre of attention. Cecily sat with him to keep him company.

Will demolished almost a whole pizza and nearly half the chocolate cake by himself. His parents looked on indulgently; it was his birthday celebration after all. Jem ate very little, taking only a small slice of pizza and cake. 

The boys went up to Will’s room after dinner to play video games. Will put on Halo so they could play together. Cecily watched for a while before her mother called her to bed. She pulled a long face and reluctantly went downstairs to her own room. Mrs Herondale gave Will a “not too late” instruction and left the boys to their own devices.

Jem played well for a few levels. But when the strategies got more complex, he began to lag behind. Will saw that his friend was trying to keep up with him and was struggling. Jem eventually began to cough hard, like he had been suppressing it for the whole day.

“Do you want me to do therapy with you?” Will asked.

Jem shook his head. His coughs subsided. “It’s not too bad. I’m just tired.”

“I thought you’d have wanted to go home by now,” Will said. 

“I thought you wanted me to stay,” Jem explained. “I barely spent any time with you today.”

Will was embarrassed at that. “Jem…” he began.

Jem held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain, Will,” he said. “It was a very good idea.”

Will wondered if Jem knew about the blind date set up. It sounded like it, but Will was not going to admit it yet. “What?” he asked, pretending not to know what Jem meant.

Jem laughed. “Come on, Will, there’s no need to be so modest. How did you come up with the idea? Did Chloe know?”

“Did she know what?” Will asked. He was confused now.

“Just now? Clearly, you were trying to score a second date with her,” Jem explained. “Inviting me and Hannah along was genius. Did it work? Did you guys enjoy yourselves?”

Will was non-plussed. “It was all right,” he finally said. 

“Just ‘all right’?” Jem repeated in amusement. “Hannah and I were trying to give you two space all day.”

“She told you that?” 

“No, but I saw how you kept going off with Chloe, so I thought you two wanted to be alone, so I pulled Hannah aside.”

Will burst into laughter at how his and Chloe’s blind date plan for Jem had so spectacularly backfired. Jem looked confused. “What’s so funny?”

“You are,” Will said. “Positively hilarious.” He stopped the video game and stood up. “Come on, genius, let’s get you home before you totally lose it.”

“I don’t understand,” Jem said. But he got up and allowed Will to herd him into the car and back home.

When Will went back to school on Monday, Chloe was waiting to pounce on him. “Why hasn’t Jem called Hannah?” she demanded the second he entered the classroom.

“Good morning to you too,” Will said glumly and sat down in his seat. Chloe stood over him and glowered, with her arms crossed over her chest. Will sighed. “Jem didn’t realise we were setting him up,” he admitted.

“What?” Chloe exclaimed in outrage. “A nice pretty girl spends a whole day with him and he didn’t realise anything? Hannah quite liked him. She thought they had a connection. Did he say anything about her?” 

“He said she was nice.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

Chloe gave a look of utter disbelief. “I knew he was innocent but I didn’t think he was that thick,” she said.

Will shrugged. He decided not to tell her what Jem actually thought was supposed to happen that day. “Do you want me to prod him?” he asked.

“Of course not! That’d make it look like Hannah was desperate for him or something,” Chloe said. “If he’s not interested, I’m sure she can find someone else who is.”

“You wanted a quiet guy. This is what happens with quiet guys,” Will explained. “He’s too good at being friendly. And it never crossed his mind that a girl would like him that way.”

Chloe’s murderous expression melted. “That’s so sweet,” she gushed. “Do you think he’d want to go on another date with her?”

“I don’t know,” Will admitted. “He’s pretty busy with school. He was sick and missed a few weeks. So, now that he’s back, he has to catch up.” 

Chloe shrugged. “Well, tell him to call Hannah, if he wants to.”

Will decided to go down to Ealing after school that day. As he turned the corner into Jem’s front garden, he spotted his friend sitting outside on the grass with papers in his lap. The boy was also surrounded by cats – a black and white one was sprawled out on his skateboard on the path, another black one with white paws was skulking around and giving Will a death glare, a ginger one was curled up at Jem’s feet, and a grey one was just lying on the grass.

Next to Jem was his open violin case, as well as a bowl of water and a bowl of what looked like kibble. As the boy studied the papers, he absently stroked the ginger cat at his feet.

“Hey, Jem!” Will called, leaning against the brick wall bordering the garden. “Taking in strays again, I see. You’re not dumping any cat on me, let me tell you right now.”

Jem looked up and squinted at Will as his eyes adjusted to the glare of the sunlight. “Hello Will,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Will gingerly navigated through the mass of cats and sat next to his friend. “What’re you doing?” he asked.

“Studying. My exam recital’s coming up,” Jem explained. “I’ll probably try it out on the violin in a minute.”

“No wonder all the cats are here. You attracted them like the Pied Piper,” Will teased.

Jem laughed. “At least I drew the cats, not rats,” he quipped. “You’ll come for my recital, right? You and your family are welcome, and not just to fill up the seats in the hall.”

“We’ll be there,” Will assured him. The boys sat quietly and a cat even came up to rub itself against Will’s leg. Then, Will decided to get to the point of his visit. “Jem, I need to tell you something,” he began. “But I don’t want you to feel obligated to anything about it.”

Jem put down his sheet music. “What is it?”

Will poured out the whole story about how he and Chloe tried to set Jem and Hannah up on a blind date. He grew more embarrassed with each word, especially when he admitted that he failed to correct his friend’s misperception that night, and allowed him to think that the outing was all about him and Chloe getting together. 

“Now, Hannah’s expecting a call from you, but clearly you aren’t going to call her, because you’re not really into her,” Will concluded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it sooner.”

Jem listened quietly until Will finished speaking. Then, he sat back, propping himself up on his elbows. “I did suspect something like that,” Jem finally said. “But Hannah seemed so friendly that I didn’t think more about it. We’d never spoken about girls much, you and I. I don’t know… I think, if I met the right girl, I would know it. Hannah was nice, but I think she and I can only just be friends. She seems too out of my league, anyway. How could she ever accept someone like me? What could I possibly offer her?”

“Stop disparaging yourself, Jem!” Will exclaimed. “You’re a wonderful catch. Even Chloe said you’re a darling. And I don’t think you should dismiss girls just because it isn’t love at first sight. Love can develop over time.”

“I know,” Jem said mildly. “But I don’t know if I have that time. I’ve got one foot in the grave. I wouldn’t want to saddle anyone with a person like that.”

“Hey!” Will protested, pointing at himself.

“You’re different. You followed me and refused to leave,” Jem retorted, giving Will a friendly punch on the side.

Will pummelled him back. “You’re weird,” he said. “And you feed me cake. That’s why I’m gonna be following you around forever.”


	30. Chapter 30

Will frowned at himself in the mirror and tugged at the collar of his nice shirt. He examined his reflection thoroughly and then buttoned up the top button of his shirt. After another few seconds of staring, he undid it, then promptly did it up again. 

He pursed his lips and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to create the touseled bed-head effect without looking like he had actually just rolled out of bed. He failed. Sighing, he combed everything down again. Now he looked like a nerd. All he needed was a pair of thick glasses. He undid the top button of his shirt.

“Oi! Are you ready to go?” Cecily’s impatient voice wafted up the stairs.

“Yeah,” Will said. He rumpled his hair again, took one last glance at the mirror and ran downstairs.

Cecily looked sweet in her green dress adorned with little yellow flowers. Their parents looked like how they normally did. His mother gaped at Will in horror. “Will! Your hair!” she exclaimed and immediately pulled a small comb out from her bag to try to tame his wild locks.

“Mam, get off! It’s fine!” Will squirmed.

“You’re going to a concert, not a sleepover,” his mother chided. “Now, hold still.” 

“For goodness’ sakes, it’s not the Royal Albert Hall,” Will retorted grumpily. His mother finally let go of him. “Fine, can we go now?”

“Do you think he should put on a blazer?” his mother asked his father.

Will’s father examined his son carefully, then shook his head. “He’ll do fine just like this,” he decided. “I think slacks are the limit of a boy’s tolerance.”

“Note the shirt too. And shiny shoes. I get points for the shiny shoes,” Will chimed in. Cecily rolled her eyes.

The family climbed into the car and drove off. But they did not head to a fancy concert in the city. Rather, they went to the auditorium in Jem’s school, where Jem and his classmates were about to perform pieces for their music examination.

Jem’s teachers had thought it was a good idea for the students’ friends and families to witness the recitals and the fruits of all their labour, and so, instead of each student performing for examiners behind closed doors, they turned the whole thing into a concert. The examiners would be seated in the audience to assess the students.

Jem told Will that his classmates were not pleased at all with this arrangement, as they thought every mistake they made would be heard by everyone else and laughed over. Stage fright was also a real possibility, possibly putting them at a disadvantage. Jem personally did not mind. Playing his violin was the only time when he actually liked attention, and he thought it a joy to be able to share his music with others.

Naturally, Jem invited Will and his whole family to the performance. He had been so excited about it that Will did not have the heart to turn him down, even though he was not keen on sitting through an evening of classical music.

Jem’s school was located about 20 minutes away from where he lived. It was a school with basic amenities that catered to the residents in the immediate area. Will immediately felt overdressed as he climbed out of the car. The other people were clearly dressed up, but the styles were more high-street fashion rather than the high-end styles that Will was used to seeing in his parents’ social circle.

The Herondales followed the crowd from the carpark into the school and made their way to the auditorium. They found Jem, Elias and Colette outside the hall.

“Will! You’re here!” Jem exclaimed happily. The boy was very sharply dressed in nice black slacks, dress shirt and a tailored vest. Every hair was in place and Will felt like a rumpled mess next to him. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting us,” Will replied. “I warn you, classical music isn’t my thing. I will probably fall asleep.”

“We’ll wake you when it’s Jem’s turn,” Colette promised.

A teacher was gathering up stray students and she came up to Jem. “The concert’s about to start. You should be inside,” she said.

Jem nodded. He turned to Will and his parents and said: “Gotta go. Hope you enjoy it.”

“Good luck, Jem,” Mr Herondale said, and the rest of the family echoed the sentiment. Jem smiled shyly and went off backstage.

Will managed to find an empty row for his family near the middle of the auditorium. Elias and Colette sat behind them. The auditorium was not full, and it looked like the audience was mainly the students’ families and classmates.

The chatter died down when a teacher got up on the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she began, “Welcome to Southall High School’s auditorium for tonight’s recital by the music class students. They have worked very hard for this, and I’m sure they are looking forward to presenting their pieces to you.” There were a few laughs from the audience. The teacher frowned and continued: “As you know, the students will be assessed on their performance, so I ask you all to kindly switch off all beeping devices and refrain from talking, applauding or cheering when they play their pieces, to ensure that the examiners are able to hear them clearly. You may applaud after they have finished all their pieces. Without further ado, I present to you, the music class.”

There was polite applause as the first student came onto the stage. It was a girl, who looked petrified. She gave an awkward curtsey and went over to the piano and began to play. From there, the students all began to blur into one for Will, as his eyes glazed over in boredom. Some students were interesting – some were playing adaptations of modern songs. Some used a guitar, but most played the piano and sang. Jem said there were a dozen students in his class, of which only two specialised in the violin, and one played the flute.

Half the students had performed by the time the teacher returned to the stage and declared that there would be an intermission. Will had not fallen asleep, but was sitting in a daze and was startled when his mother spoke to him, asking him how he found the concert. “It was… okay?” he answered uncertainly.

His mother laughed. “At least you stayed awake,” she commented, leaning over to shake Cecily, who had fallen asleep against the empty seat beside her.

“Is it over?” she asked sleepily.

“Jem will be playing in the next half. He said he’s going to open. I think. Or be the second, I can’t remember exactly” Elias leaned forward to inform them.

Will rubbed his eyes to wake himself up and sat up straight. The second half of the concert resumed with a boy singing Haydn’s Piercing Eyes. He went on to butcher a piece by Schumann with his atrocious pronunciation. The boy seemed aware that something had gone wrong, and that caused his voice to tremble and go off the note. Though he redeemed himself with his next songs, his confidence had been shaken and he left the stage red faced and with tears in his eyes. Will felt sorry for him.

Then, Jem walked onto the stage with his violin tucked under his arm. Immediately Will noticed a difference – all of those who played an instrument brought sheet music on stage with them, but Jem did not. He walked to the middle of the stage as though he had done it every day for his whole life, bowed and lifted the violin up to his shoulder.

His first piece was by Bartok, called An Evening in the Village. Will paid rapt attention. The Hungarian folksong sounded Asian, part of the Mongol influence in their culture, Jem had suggested when Will asked him about it. The opening notes invoked the adults toiling in the large rolling fields and the hard drudgery of their peasant lives. Then Jem’s bow jumped nimbly over the strings, suggesting children playing, and moments of carefree joy. The repeating phrases told of the circle of life and how village life did not change much over time.

His second song was modern music – the theme from the film Ladies in Lavender. The melody was flowing and romantic. Jem had closed his eyes, and his body swayed in time to the music. He painted the picture of an idyllic countryside. Will could practically see, in his mind’s eye, a boy and a girl running through a field of flowers, not speaking but just enjoying each other’s company. Beautifully sweet notes were wrung out of the violin, telling of a simple love story with a happy ending.

The last piece Jem played was Sonatina in A Major by Telemann. This song was clearly meant to showcase his technical skill. Jem made it look effortless, but each note, double-stop, rest and ornamentation was precisely executed, the tempo was good and his volume variations were perfect. As he played the allegro second movement, he swayed along with the music, almost dancing, and his lips curved upwards with each successive note.

After the finale of the song, Jem lifted his bow triumphantly. He had a huge smile on his face, like he knew he had played his best and it had been good. Will clapped and cheered hard. Jem heard the cheer and blushed, turning back into the bashful boy he usually was. He bowed and then exited the stage.

When the concert was over, Will rushed outside the auditorium to find Jem. He found the tall thin boy clutching his violin case and standing on the outskirts of a circle of his classmates. Will grabbed his friend and exclaimed: “Jem! That was amazing! You were amazing! You’re going to get an A for sure.”

“Thanks, Will. I hope so,” he said.

“You’re too modest. You were the best. I may be biased and know nothing about classical music, but that’s the absolute truth. After that performance, if you don’t get an A, the examiners must be deaf,” Will declared.

Mr Herondale came up too and congratulated Jem. “It must have taken you ages to get all those songs right,” he commented.

“Oh, getting them right didn’t take very long,” Jem replied. “But my father used to say, it’s not about getting the pieces right; one must ensure one can’t get them wrong.”

“That’s a very wise philosophy,” Mr Herondale said. “Your father would have been very proud of you.” Jem blushed and smiled down at his feet. “Will has a lot to learn from you,” Mr Herondale added, clamping his hand on his son’s shoulder.

Cecily came up and gave Jem a hug before anyone realised what she was doing. “That was great, Jem!” she said. “I loved it.”

“Were you even awake for it?” Will asked sardonically.

“I was,” Cecily solemnly informed him. “Okay, I was asleep for the others, but I was awake when Jem played. It was lovely. I want to learn how to play the violin too.”

“You can’t even read music,” Will pointed out.

“That’s why I have to learn,” Cecily immediately countered.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” Mrs Herondale quickly mediated, steering her children away before another sibling fight broke out in public. The pair waved to Jem until their car drove out of sight.


	31. Chapter 31

Standing by the stove with the pan smoking dangerously, Will frantically dialled Jem’s number. The call failed to connect several times because Will’s hands were full of oil and, after he realised and washed them, water.

Jem was getting a lot better at answering his phone, compared to the early days of their friendship when he tended to let the call ring through then text back. But even now, it usually took him a long time to pick up, adding to Will’s agitation. Finally, there was an answer: “Hello?”

“Jem!” Will burst out. “Help!”

“Will? What’s wrong?” Jem asked in alarm. “Are you all right?”

“I’m about to burn down my kitchen,” Will said. “Please say you know how to cook.”

“You’re cooking?”

“Yeah. Chloe’s coming over to study later. I thought it’d be nice to make her a meal,” Will explained.

Jem sighed over the phone. “Will, don’t you have a cook?” he asked.

“It’s Bridget’s day off. Mam and Dad are out of town for the day. Cecily’s gone off to her friend’s place,” Will elaborated. “I boiled potatoes but they look weird. And there’s a lot of smoke from the flat pan thing.”

“Flat pan thing?”

“I don’t know. The pan. It’s flat. Does its name matter?” Will exclaimed in exasperation. “You’re missing the point. The point is: Get your arse over here and help me!”

“Won’t I be interrupting your date if I do that?” Jem asked in a teasing tone.

“At this point, I care more about making sure Mam doesn’t find out I almost burned down the house,” Will informed him. “Please, Jem? I really need help now.”

He heard Jem chuckle. “Okay, let me grab my apron.”

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and Will ran to open it. Jem was there, with his usual backpack and a huge grin on his face.

“Stop laughing,” Will ordered as he let his friend in.

“I’m not laughing,” Jem denied. He went into the kitchen. The pan had stopped smoking by now but there was a horrible black mess in it. Jem looked at it and shook his head. “Tell me what you were trying to do.”

“Fry meat,” Will said, showing Jem the half empty pack of ground beef.

Jem picked up a spatula and poked at the black mess in the pan. “This is unsalvageable. Do you have another skillet?” Seeing Will’s blank look, he rephrased: “Do you have another flat pan like this?”

“Maybe?” Will said uncertainly. He began opening up cabinets and searching. In the meantime, Jem picked up the pan and carried it over to the sink. Will saw his movement and shouted: “No! Don’t do that!”

Startled by the suddenly exclamation, Jem nearly dropped the pan. “What?”

“Water is bad! Just now, I tried to put water in to try and get the burned bits to not stick and there was an explosion,” Will said, using his hands to illustrate. “Fireball, Jem. Literal fireball. I’m surprised the sprinklers didn’t go off.”

Jem raised his eyebrows. “Were you using oil?” he asked. Will nodded. “Now you know, water plus hot oil equals bad things.” Will nodded again. He looked terrified. “But it’s okay now,” Jem continued. “It’s cooled off so you can wash it.” He put the pan in the sink and turned on the tap. Will stared in trepidation but nothing happened. “See? It’s fine,” Jem said. “But this pan is out of commission for now. Have you got another one?”

“Oh, yeah,” Will said, going back to his search. It took him a while but he finally found another one. He pulled it out and passed it to Jem.

“What exactly were you trying to make?” Jem asked. “You mentioned potatoes.” Will pointed to the saucepan on the stove. Jem took the lid off. There were six potatoes jammed inside and sitting in a small puddle of water. Jem poked a fork into them. They were quite soft. “What’s wrong? They look fine to me,” he said.

“They’re brown.”

“So?”

“Potatoes are like whitish yellow. And these ones have spots on them.”

Jem’s lips twitched again and he lifted his hand to cover his mouth. He put the cover back and said: “Will, have you never seen a raw potato before?” Will looked confused. “These potatoes are fine. You just didn’t peel them. But that’s okay. You can peel them after you cook them.” 

“Okay. At least I have potatoes,” Will said dejectedly.

Jem grinned at Will’s mournful expression. “Cheer up. You can make shepherd’s pie.”

“No, I can’t. I don’t know how. And I’m afraid of blowing up the kitchen again. I give up. I can’t cook,” Will resignedly admitted.

Jem went over to his friend and patted his back. “Don’t say that. I’ll help you. Isn’t that what you called me over for?”

Will stared at Jem and then smiled. “Okay. Tell me what to do.”

Jem put Will to work. First, he had to peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. As he did this, Jem heated up some milk to add to the potatoes. Then Will used a fork to mash them up with lots of butter, salt, pepper and chives. Following that, he stirred as Jem slowly poured the milk it. It looked so nice and creamy.

When the potatoes were done, Will put them in the oven. He then set to work on his next task, which was to help Jem slice and dice onions, garlic and celery. Jem was slow at this because he was trying to be careful. Will was faster but he almost chopped his fingertips off a few times. In his nearest miss, the knife went right through his fingernail, though stopping just before it broke the skin. Jem went pale when he saw the almost-injury and sent Will to go scrub out the skillet instead.

That took a lot of effort. He had to scrape off the burnt bits of meat first then use the steel wool sponge to scrub it. He glanced over to see what Jem was doing. His friend was standing by the stove. He had heated up the new pan and put a square of butter in it. The savoury smell of the melted butter filled the kitchen. Adding to it was the smell of cooking onion, garlic and celery. Will’s mouth began to water.

He abandoned the skillet and went to stand next to Jem and watch. His friend seemed to know what he was doing, even though he held the spatula gingerly, as though it was going to burst into flames.

“This is nearly ready. I’ll put in the rest of the meat in a minute,” Jem said. “Do you have a glass baking dish?” 

Will dug one out of the cabinets. He watched in fascination as Jem began cooking the ground beef, expertly shaking in salt and pepper. “I might have put in too much pepper,” Jem said apologetically as he sniffed the meat.

“Doesn’t matter. It smells delicious,” Will said.

“It’ll smell even better if you have some spaghetti sauce,” Jem told him. Will didn’t have any, but he grabbed a bottle of ketchup and handed it to Jem. The boy poured the ketchup onto the meat and stirred it in. As promised, the aroma was delicious.

Jem turned off the fire and spooned the meat into the baking dish. He then asked Will for vegetables and cheese, both of which Will found in the refrigerator. Jem laid the diced mixed vegetables over the meat. Will then got the mashed potatoes out and spread it on top, as Jem directed. He also liberally sprinkled grated cheese over the whole lot before putting the dish into the oven.

“And there you have it – shepherd’s pie,” Jem announced as they shut the oven door. “Let it bake for about 40 minutes then take it out.”

“You’re a life saver, Jem. Seriously, you are.” Will said solemnly. “Where did you learn to cook?”

“My mother taught me a little,” Jem said. “After she died, well, I tried to re-create her cooking. I haven’t managed to, though. Then I turned to the Internet. I have to cook for myself sometimes, when Uncle is working late and I don’t feel like getting take out.”

“I owe you one,” Will said. He went over to the fridge and rummaged around. He pulled out a chocolate ice cream bar and handed it to Jem.

Jem shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not really hungry.”

“It’s just ice cream, Jem,” Will insisted. “You’re not going to stay for lunch, you can at least take the ice cream. You’re so skinny; you have to eat more.” Jem still looked very reluctant. “What’s wrong? You don’t like ice cream?” Will asked.

“Nothing,” Jem said. “It’s not the ice cream. It’s just… I have to take my pills if I want to eat anything, and, well… I was having such fun hanging out with you; I don’t really feel like swallowing pills now.”

Will frowned at him. “Jem, you know you have to eat, even if you don’t feel like it,” he chided.

“I know,” Jem acknowledged quickly.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re saying that just to get me off your back?” Will asked suspiciously. Jem smiled innocently. “I knew it! That’s it, you’re staying for lunch. You and me and Chloe are going to sit down together and eat the wonderful shepherd’s pie you made.” Jem opened his mouth to protest but Will stopped him. “I don’t care. I’m not going to let you starve yourself. You’re going to eat with us and you’ll just have to find some way to be happy about it.”


	32. Chapter 32

“All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Mathematics examination. You have an hour and 30 minutes. You may begin,” the examiner sternly announced.

Will took a deep breath, picked up his pen and scrawled his name across the top of the page. It made him smile to think that across the city, his best friend Jem was doing the same thing in his own school. One and a half hours more and the freedom of summer would be theirs. Will could not wait for it.

The exam was tough, but nothing that Will could not handle. All those extra sessions Jem had done with him were paying off. Will focused on his goal – sixth form, A levels, then university with Jem. But first, passing this paper. He returned his attention to the questions and began writing hard.

Time flew by and then the examiner was calling time. Will had only just managed to finish and he scribbled in one last answer before putting his pen down. He thought he did all right, but then he never knew, when it came to exams.

He ran out of the school gate, blazer flapping open to the wind. He was going to meet Jem at the South Bank to try out the skate park there. He arrived before Jem did and sat in a corner out of the way to wait. The skate park, known as the Undercroft, was a large space held up by pillars underneath the South Bank Centre. Colourful graffiti covered every inch of wall, and the graffiti was constantly changing as generations of teens made their mark.

Jem arrived nearly an hour later, carrying his yellow skateboard and two cups of McDonald’s drinks. He had changed out of his school uniform and was wearing jeans and a colourful tshirt. “Hey Will!” he greeted cheerfully, handing his friend a drink. It was an iced chocolate chip frappe, which Will gratefully sipped. The day was getting warm.

The crowd was starting to gather by now, as more teens finished their exams and came here to hang out. There was certainly a celebratory mood in the air. The boys put down their drinks and bags and started rolling around on Jem’s skateboard.

They had certainly improved since the first time they rode the board. Will wanted to try out some stunts, though, so Jem let him use the board and sat aside to give him plenty of space.

At first, Will warmed up by going up and down the ramps, increasing his speed as he did so. Then, having gained momentum, he zoomed towards one of the stone benches in the middle of the space and readied himself to make the jump over it.

His first attempt was wildly unsuccessful. He did not manage to jump even part way up. All he did was jump off the board, and had to go running after it. He made another run around and this time managed to jump up and bring the board with him. But it was nowhere near high enough to go over the bench.

Some of the more experienced skaters were laughing at him by now, but Will did not care. He meant to jump over that bench and he would die trying. He went at it a third time, then a fourth time, and a fifth. Each time, he felt himself improving. Finally, on the sixth try, he did it – he took off, cleared the bench, and gracefully landed on the other side, rolling on his way again afterwards.

“Did you see that, Jem?” he called excitedly to his friend. Jem, standing at the side, gave him two thumbs up. “I’m going to try that again!” he announced.

Will went back up the ramp to prepare for his run up. He saw Jem standing and holding his phone up to record it. He took a deep breath and kicked off. He rolled down the ramp, picking up speed as he went. He steered towards the stone bench. He bent his knees and popped the back of the skateboard up as he jumped.

Then, something went wrong. Will did not manage to get high enough to clear the bench and the board knocked against the side of the bench. He was caught off guard and sailed forward landing face first onto the floor and sliding a little before doing a complete forward flip and landing on his back. A round of applause went up from the others in the area.

“Will? Are you all right?” Jem ran up to him and knelt by him, putting a hand on his arm. “Your chin is bleeding,” his friend observed. “And your nose.”

Will groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He touched his chin and winced. “It’s not that bad,” he concluded.

“Is anything broken?” Jem asked, handing Will a piece of tissue paper and looking him over.

“Just my pride,” Will said. “Please tell me no one saw me trying to eat the floor.”

Jem smiled a crooked smile. “Well, you were entertaining,” he said diplomatically. “Can you stand? I think we’re done here.”

Will rubbed his arms; they were sore and red from when he had skidded on the floor. He let Jem pull him to his feet. The boys retrieved their belongings then headed out from the Undercroft.

“Hey man, we all go through that. Don’t give up, all right?” one of the skaters encouraged as they passed. Will gave him a watery smile in acknowledgement.

Jem led the way to a nearby chippy and went to buy some chips while Will cleaned himself up. He felt much better by the time his friend returned with the food.

“So, how bad was it?” Will asked. Jem chuckled and handed Will his phone. Will turned on the video and watched himself flying off the board and onto the floor. He winced when he saw it. “Ouch,” he said.

“Ouch,” Jem agreed. “Do you need a bandage?”

“Will I look cool with it?”

Jem considered it for a moment. “Nope. You’ll probably just look like an idiot who tried to jump over a bench and failed.” 

Will threw a chip at him. He examined his reflection in the phone. “I hope this won’t leave a scar. I’d hate to ruin my good looks.”

“But think of how girls would like a dashing young man with a battle scar,” Jem immediately retorted.

Will frowned. “Maybe you’re right. I could tell them I got this scar from battling vicious demons of the deep, who crawled from the underbelly of the earth, ready to subjugate the world to their awful tyrannous reign of terror.”

Jem burst into laughter. “Yes,” he agreed. “That would be much better than telling them you ate South Bank’s floor.”

“So we agree, we never speak of it. If anyone asks, it was demons,” Will decided. Jem nodded and the boys solemnly shook hands.

They quietly munched their chips for a while before Will asked: “Did you talk to your uncle about coming over to stay over the summer?”

Jem nodded. “He’s all right with it, but he’s not sure about the whole summer. Maybe a week or so. I kind of agree with him. I’ve never been away from home so long before. The prospect is a little scary.”

“You seem much better lately, though,” Will observed. “I’ve barely heard you cough today.”

“It’s the weather. My lungs like the warm weather,” Jem said with a smile. “I’m always in the pink of health in summer. It’s great.”

“I can’t wait to show you around Wales,” Will said. “We could go exploring Snowdonia Park, ride horses, swim…”

“I can’t swim,” Jem interrupted.

“Can’t, or don’t know how?” Will asked.

“Don’t know how,” Jem admitted.

“I’ll teach you!” Will enthusiastically said. “It’s fun. You’ll love it.”

“Uncle says he’ll have to teach your parents about my therapy and meds and all that,” Jem said.

“I can do that!” Will volunteered. “I already know how to do your therapy. The rest should be a breeze.”

Jem beamed happily. “I can’t wait for summer to come,” he said.


	33. Chapter 33

Will and Cecily made their way through the crowd at the Cardiff Central train station, craning their necks to find a familiar face. It was now two weeks into the summer vacation and Jem was coming to stay with the Herondales in their Welsh home for a week. The two siblings were inordinately excited as they searched for their friend.

Finally, they spotted Jem and his uncle Elias coming towards them off of the platform. Jem was toting a large backpack and Elias was dragging a wheelie suitcase. Jem was grinning from ear to ear and he greeted Will and Cecily enthusiastically.

Elias handed Jem’s suitcase over to the Herondale’s Welsh driver Cyril. He then gave Jem a hug and told him to be careful, to remember to take his medicines, not to over-exert himself, not to be too picky with his food and to call him every day. In fact, he was going on for so long that Will began to get impatient. He saw that Jem was also getting a little embarrassed.

Thankfully, Cyril politely told Elias that they had a long drive ahead and should be going. Elias gave Jem one last hug and took a long look at his nephew before reluctantly releasing him. He looked anxious but kept waving as they walked off.

“Your uncle seems really worried about you,” Will observed as he climbed into the backseat of the car with Jem. Cecily was riding in the front with Cyril, having been bribed with extra time with Jem later on if she allowed Will to sit at the back with him now.

Jem smiled awkwardly. “This is the first time I’m going to be away from home and from him,” he said. “I suppose he’s right to be worried. It’s not as if I’m like other normal people.”

“Did you pack your entire pharmacy?” Will teased.

Jem nodded. “Yup. Everything but the IV pole,” he replied solemnly. Then he laughed. “Uncle was fussing over what I should take and what I should leave all of last night. He was fretting through the whole train ride here too.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you, Jem,” Cecily said from the front seat.

“That’s what I told Uncle,” Jem said. “He didn’t really believe me.”

“But we will!” Will insisted. “Mam is going to be around most of the day. And we’re not that far away from the town. There’s a clinic there. Anyway, when you’re breathing in the good fresh air, you can’t help but be well, that’s what Mam always says.”

It was three hours before they reached the town of Dolgellau, inside the Snowdonia National Park. The majestic Cadair Idris mountain range towered over them. Cyril stopped in the town to pick up some groceries, giving the children a chance to get out of the car and walk around. 

The town had old world charm to it, though the clouds made things cool and dreary. The houses were all small and made out of the same kind of light grey stone. It was the gateway to Cadair Idris, so there were quite a few tourists walking around. Bike shops were open, as were the hiking supply shops. Some other shops were having summer sales and had their wares displayed out on the pavement.

“It’s a whole different world from London,” Jem commented. He had his arms around himself and was shivering.

Will noticed and asked: “Cold?”

“A little,” Jem admitted.

“You’re in the country now, city boy. Up in the mountains,” Will said. “Cecy, run back to the car and get Jem a coat, will you, cariad?”

Cecily stuck out her tongue, not liking to be told what to do, but obeyed anyway. She quickly returned with Jem’s knitted rainbow cardigan, which he put on gratefully. “You’ll get used to the cold,” she assured him. “It gets hot when the sun is out.”

Jem was staring at the mountain. “Look!” he said, pointing. Will and Cecily turned to see. There was a break in the clouds and bright golden afternoon sun shone down, illuminating the peak of the mountain and making all the colours of the trees and grass suddenly vibrant. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful,” he breathed.

“How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains.” Will quoted. “You really are a city boy,” he added, clapping Jem on the back.

Cyril returned then and ushered them all back into the car. He left the town and drove down the little one-lane country road lined with old stone boundary walls. Jem looked out the window, watching the trees flash by. Every now and then, he would catch a glimpse of the mountain and also little fields where sheep grazed.

“That’s Lyn Gwernan,” Will suddenly pointed to a lake, visible across a carpark that was attached to a hotel. “We go there all the time to swim. Not here; a quieter corner. We go down on the horses.”

“It looks lovely,” Jem said softly.

They drove on until they saw a series of six tall hedges. Cyril slowed down then turned off the main road and into a smaller lane.

“Welcome to Herondale Manor,” Will announced as they drove down the lane. 

“All this land belongs to your family?” Jem asked in astonishment.

“Yup,” Will said. “Generations of Herondales lived here. We’ve got sheep, chickens, a couple of horses, a nice wood in the back. We could spend the entire week just hanging out on the property.”

“He’s lying,” Cecily pipped in. “It’s not that big.”

“Say what you will, bach cenau,” Will retorted. “Don’t listen to her, Jem. Our land runs from that hotel down the road up to the woods over there.”

“Wow!” Jem said. Then he asked: “What’s that you just called her? Bach something.”

“Bach cenau,” Will repeated. “It’s Welsh. Means ‘little rascal’.” Cecily stuck her tongue out at him.

Before anyone else could say anything, Cyril stopped the car outside a large manor house. It was three storeys high, made of rough brown stone, and had a dark brown roof. Large windows dominated the façade, and dark green ivy crept up one end of the building. Chimneys poked up at irregular intervals. There was a tower at one corner.

Jem got out of the car and gaped. “You live here?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Will said. He went round to the boot of the car and heaved Jem’s suitcase out. “Quit gaping and give me a hand,” he ordered.

Cecily had run up to the front door and opened it. She disappeared inside the house, though Jem could hear her yelling for her mother. Mrs Herondale soon appeared at the door.

“Oh Jem, welcome!” she said, giving him a hug. “I hope you’ll enjoy yourself here. Will and Cecily will show you around. If you need anything, just ask.”

“Thank you, Mrs Herondale,” he said. Will’s mother always made him feel shy. She was a tall and very striking woman, and she could be formidable when she wished to be.

Cecily led him through the house. A thin red carpet lined the hallways, so worn by years of foot traffic that the original pattern could barely be seen. The walls were painted dark green and portraits and artworks hung on them. They came to a large set of dark wood doors, which Cecily easily pushed open with a flourish.

“This is our ‘children’s wing’,” Will said from behind them as he finished dragging Jem’s suitcase up the stairs.

“Bathroom,” Cecily announced as they passed. “Playroom, storeroom, my room.” They passed a door which had a poster with her name drawn on it, as well as a large and prominent “No Will allowed” sign underneath.

“Your room,” she said and paused at the room next to hers. The door was unadorned. She opened it for Jem.

The room was huge. An old purple carpet covered the floor and over that was placed a cheerful red patterned rug. The walls were cream coloured and framed watercolour paintings of Babar the Elephant were hung up. A wooden four-poster bed dominated the room. Off to the side was a large wardrobe as well as a chest of drawers with a mirror on top and a vase full of orange, pink and white daisies. Tall lamps stood guard on either side of the bed. Two armchairs flanked the windows, from which hung flower print curtains. The curtains were currently drawn to let in the pale evening sunlight. A view of the driveway and a glimpse of Lyn Gwernan could be seen.

Jem slowly went in. Will barged past and dumped the suitcase on the floor by the bed. “Power sockets are here,” he said, kneeling by the bed to show his friend. “There are some more over by the dresser. Make yourself at home.”

Jem was still slowly walking around the room. “This is too much,” he finally said. “I feel lost in here. It’s so big.”

Will laughed. “It’s just a room,” he said. “We’ll leave you to unpack your stuff. My room’s just a bit farther down the hall. Yell if you need anything.”


	34. Chapter 34

“Jem, are you ready for dinner?” Will called, knocking hard on Jem’s door. 

It opened and his friend came out. “I thought you’d never ask,” Jem said. “I didn’t know you guys ate dinner at 9pm. I thought I was going to have to go to bed without supper.”

Will laughed. “I probably should’ve warned you,” he acknowledged. “We usually eat later out here because we wait for Dad to get back from Cardiff. But tonight is super late. If you get hungry, you can always ask me. I’ve got snacks. By the way, do you want to see my room?”

Will beckoned his friend towards the other end of the hallway. His room was inside the tower of the building and was thus round at one end. It was smaller than his attic room in London and was much messier. If his room in London was like a bookshop, his room here was like a library. Books were piled up everywhere – on the shelves, floors, chairs, and even on the bed. Jem spotted a book under his pillow as well. 

“It’s really cosy,” Jem commented. “It feels like your room. It’s got your personality stamped all over it. Just like you to live in a library.”

Will rolled his eyes. “I like my London room,” he said dismissively. He led his friend back down the hallway to the room Cecily called the playroom. He opened the door. It clearly had been a nursery for when the children were younger – evident from the cartoon clowns and animals that covered the walls – and now turned into a large recreation room. There was a red sofa, a flat-screen TV and hi-fi system. Many bookshelves lined the room. On one side was a large chest that was open and full of toys. Next to that was a stack of flat cushions.

Three study tables were placed around the room. One was clearly Will’s – piled high with more books and action figures. Cecily’s table was overflowing with glittery My Little Pony memoriabilia. The third table was empty except for a cage with a hamster running on an exercise wheel.

“I didn’t know you had a pet,” Jem said, going over to look at the hamster. It was a fat golden and white hamster, and it stopped running and stared at Jem.

“It was Ella’s,” Will said softly. “She got it just a week before the accident. We didn’t really want to bring it to London, so our housekeeper here, Sophie, has been taking care of it.”

“He must’ve been lonely up here by himself,” Jem commented, putting his finger up against the bars of the cage. The hamster came up and sniffed at him.

“There are cats downstairs,” Will explained. “It’s safer up here.”

“Does he have a name?” Jem asked. True to his animal-loving nature, he was already gently stroking the hamster through the bars.

“Ella called it Cinnamon, I think,” Will said. “I can’t really remember.” His voice turned a little shaky at that last remark. “It bit me a lot and I hated it. Ella kept asking me to play with it, but I always said no. I wish I did now. She would have been so happy. She loved that creature.”

Jem put a hand on Will’s shoulder. “Will, you couldn’t have known that accident would happen,” he said. “I’m sure Ella would have liked you to play with her pet, but I’m also sure that she wouldn’t have wanted you to do something that made you unhappy, just to make her happy.”

Will shrugged Jem’s hand off, pretending that he could not care less either way. He pointed to the TV area. “We’ve got a fridge in here. It’s got snacks, so you can just come in and help yourself when you’re hungry,” he said. He walked over and opened up the mini fridge. It was stuffed full of biscuits, crisps, cereal, fruit as well as bottles of milk, a plastic jug of water and canned drinks. “Just let Sophie know when anything runs out.”

The boys then went down to dinner. The dining room was large and formal, but Will’s parents said it had to be used or it would fall into disrepair. Jem was shy and sat quietly next to Will, slowly eating whatever was put before him.

After dinner, Will ushered him out of the room and back up the stairs. Halfway up, Jem’s phone beeped to indicate a text. He read the message with a small smile on his face and typed something back. When he was done, he looked up to see Will looming over him in curiosity.

“Well? Who was that?” Will asked. “Why are you grinning like a loon?”

Jem blushed. “Hannah,” he said.

“What? Why is Hannah texting you? What did she say?” Will burst out.

Jem sighed and showed Will his phone. It was a photo of Hannah at a beach, wearing a bikini with a sarong skirt and waving. Her thick brown hair tumbled wildly everywhere. “She’s on holiday in Spain,” he explained.

“Why is she sending you pictures?” Will asked.

“She’s on holiday. She wanted me to see,” Jem replied.

“Why does she think you would want to see her pictures?” Will asked in exasperation at the non-answers Jem was giving him.

“I told her I was here and it was cold,” Jem said.

“So she sent you a picture of sunny Spain to, what, make you jealous?”

“I don’t know. She looks like she’s having fun, though. That’s what I told her,” Jem said, putting his hand out for the phone.

Will refused to return it and swiped through the other pictures. There were more photos of Hannah in Spain – holding a bunch of flowers, wearing a huge sunhat, and standing outside the Guggenheim museum. He scrolled further back and came across selfies of Jem and Hannah taken at various locations and clearly on different days. “Jem, are you two together?” he asked.

Again, his friend blushed. “No,” he said slowly. “I don’t know. Can I have my phone back, please?”

“Not till you answer my question.”

“I did answer it!”

“No, you didn’t!” Will insisted. “Come on, spill! How long have you two been dating?” 

“We haven’t been dating. We were just hanging out,” Jem said.

Will held up a selfie picture as evidence. “People hanging out do not take pictures like this,“ he said. “Come on, all she has to do is turn her head and she would’ve totally kissed you. Oh my god, have you two, you know, shagged?”

“No!”

“James…” Will prompted.

“We haven’t,” Jem insisted. “We’ve just hung out. Held hands. Hugged.” He sounded extremely reluctant to admit to the last.

“And now she’s sending you pictures of herself half naked.”

Will didn’t think it was possible for Jem to blush any redder than he already had. But his friend’s face now turned the shade of a tomato. “She’s not naked,” he stammered.

“I didn’t say she was naked. I said half.”

“Will you please give me back my phone, William!”

“Oh come on, give me details! Did you at least snog her? What was it like?”

Jem pursed his lips and stalked off. Will swore and then followed. When they got to the top of the stairs, Jem slowed down, breathing hard, allowing Will to catch up. He handed Jem the phone. “Jem, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pestered you. You clearly didn’t want to talk about it,” he apologised. “Don’t be mad at me.”

Jem took his phone back. “Thanks,” he said grudgingly. 

“Do you want me to do therapy with you now?” Will asked. He had been given the task by Jem’s uncle and was determined to do it well.

But whether or not he could carry out his duty depended on Jem. “No,” Jem said. There was a hint of coldness under his calm exterior that Will had not experienced before with Jem. “I’ll use the vibrating vest tonight and turn in early. Goodnight, Will.”

With that, Jem went into his room and shut the door. Will was left standing out in the corridor, staring at the door and amazed at how fast things had escalated. He sighed and went back to his own room. Hopefully, Jem would have cooled down by morning and would allow Will to make amends.


	35. Chapter 35

The sun was shining brightly by the time Will woke up the next morning. He glanced at the clock. 7.24am. He didn’t usually wake up so early but he was feeling hungry so he decided to get up.

He padded over to Jem’s door and knocked softly. “Jem? You up?” he called. He knew his friend was an early riser. He gently opened the door. Jem’s suitcase was open by the bed, revealing his vibrating vest, equipment and his range of pill bottles. His empty backpack was placed on an armchair. But there was no Jem to be seen.

Will frowned but thought nothing of it. Perhaps his friend was just in the bathroom. It was too quiet though. Will remembered that Jem coughed like crazy in the mornings because it took some time for his lungs to wake up. He left the room and bumped into a sleepy-looking Cecily who was just exiting the bathroom.

“Cecy, did you see Jem?” Will asked.

She yawned widely before she answered: “No.” It seemed that she was still half-asleep as she shuffled her way back to her bedroom and shut the door. A few seconds later, though, she popped her head out. “Wait, did you say Jem’s missing?” she asked.

“He’s not in his room,” Will told her.

“Maybe he woke up early and went downstairs,” she suggested. “Looks like a nice day. Want to go swimming later?”

“Maybe,” Will said absently. “I’d better go find Jem.”

Will reached out and opened the playroom door to check if Jem was there. The TV was on, with the volume set low. Lying curled up on the sofa in front of it was Jem. Will walked over, sat on the edge of the sofa that was still free and gently shook Jem’s shoulder. His friend made a whimpering sound and curled up more, as though reluctant to get up.

“Jem,” Will called again. Jem cracked open his eyes. It took him a few seconds to focus on Will. “Jem, why are you sleeping on the sofa?”

Jem blinked several times before he answered. “I must’ve fallen asleep,” he said.

“Yeah, you did. Why? Is something wrong with your room?” Will inquired.

Jem pushed himself up into a sitting position and immediately began to cough hard. When the coughing fit had passed, he said: “It was too quiet. I couldn’t sleep. So, I thought I’d come in here and watch some TV till I got really tired then go back to the room. Guess I fell asleep before I could do that.”

“I know what you mean. When I first went to live in London, it was so full of people and so noisy, I thought I would go crazy,” Will said.

“Some people would say that you did go crazy,” Jem retorted snidely.

Will pummelled Jem. “I resent that remark!” he exclaimed. The boys wrestled each other onto the floor but stopped when Jem stared coughing again. “Do you need your therapy?”

Jem shook his head. “Give me a minute,” he gasped. When he caught his breath, he said: “Will, I’m sorry I lost my temper last night. I probably should have told you about Hannah sooner. I guess I just never found the right time or the right way to tell you.”

Will leaned back against the sofa. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have pestered you,” he apologised. “It was kind of a shock. I had no idea you liked her and you were meeting her.”

“She’s really nice, you know?” Jem remarked. “I mean, at first, I thought we were just friends, that I was just some guy in between her boyfriends. But… I don’t know. I like her. And she doesn’t mind me, so that’s good.”

Will chuckled. “Man, I don’t know how you’re going to be like when you decide you’re actually in love. Just be careful, okay? Hannah’s known to be a man-eater.”

Jem nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he acknowledged. “Now, how about you help me get some gunk out of my lungs?”

After Will helped Jem with his therapy, and Jem had practically coughed his lungs out, the boys trooped downstairs for breakfast.

“If the weather stays good, we’ll go swimming in the afternoon,” Will told Jem as they tucked into bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes and toast. “Down at the lake. We’ll go get the horses first, and we can go exploring in the morning.”

Jem’s eyes gleamed in excitement. Cecily came down just as the boys were finishing their breakfast and gobbled down toast and orange juice in record time so that she could go with them to the stables.

It turned out that Jem did not know how to ride a horse so Will had to spend some time coaching him. Jem’s legendary animal whispering powers put him in good stead and enabled him to control his horse with a gentle touch. They spent the morning riding round and round the sprawling grounds of the Herondale estate. It was good practice since the terrain was a mixture of flat and hilly ground.

They grabbed a quick lunch of sandwiches back at the house before going to change into their swimming attire. The sun had really come out by then and it was a beautiful warm day. They took the horses and Will led them to a quieter corner of Lyn Gwernan, away from the hotel and tourist area.

Cecily was the first to jump off her horse and dive into the lake, throwing off her caftan as she went. Will stopped to tie the horses to a tree first. He glanced over at Jem. “So, your first time swimming. You ready?” he asked. Jem nodded nervously. Will laughed.

The boys went to the edge of the water. Will took off his tshirt and dumped it on the ground by Cecily’s caftan. Jem was more relunctant to remove his tshirt. When he finally did so, Will was shocked to see exactly how skinny his friend was. “You look like a war orphan,” he commented. Jem blushed.

Will waded into the water and turned to see how Jem was doing. He was still hesitating at the edge. “Jem, don’t make me go and get you,” Will warned.

“I think you’d better come and get me,” Jem called. His voice sounded extremely nervous. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Will came back and grabbed Jem’s hand. “Come on,” he said, guiding his friend forward. Jem followed him. He shivered as his skin touched the cold water. Will put a hand down and splashed him.

“Hey!” Jem cried.

“Trust me, it helps,” Will said. He continued to splash cold lake water at Jem, who began to laugh. He led Jem farther out into the lake until the water was almost chest-high. “You okay?” he asked. Jem nodded again. “See, I told you this isn’t so bad.”

“I think I’m more used to the cold water now,” Jem said. “Now what?”

“Now, you hold on to me,” Will instructed. He grabbed Jem’s arms and placed them on his shoulders. “Then you sort of lay on your stomach and kick out your legs to paddle.”

Jem looked alarmed but he tried to do as instructed. The first time he did it, he panicked and clutched Will tightly, almost causing him to lose his footing. “Woah! Jem, relax! I’ve got you,” Will assured him. Cecily swam back and added her encouragement, demonstrating how to do it.

When Jem got the hang of it, Will taught him what to do with his hands and how to do the freestyle stroke. After that, Jem was able to move around more freely. Just as Will predicted, Jem found that he did enjoy swimming. It was nice to be completely embraced in the element. When Will trusted Jem enough to let him paddle by himself in the shallows, he went out to deeper water where he raced Cecily, shrieking as they each accused the other of cheating. 

The afternoon sun beat down but the water was nice and cool. Eventually the trio floated lazily in the shallows. Then, Will suddenly shot upright. “Look out!” he shouted.

Jem and Cecily scanned the horizon. “What is it?” Jem asked in alarm. Will moved to get behind his friend. He pointed at something on the lake.

Cecily began laughing. “It’s just a duck, idiot,” she taunted.

“There’s nothing ‘just’ about a duck!” Will exclaimed. “Get it away!”

Cecily half-heartedly kicked some water in the duck’s direction. It did nothing to deter the bird and it continued to swim towards them. 

Will jumped up and headed for shore. He turned back and saw the duck continuing to hold its course. “Jem! Make it stop following me!” he shouted. Jem burst into laughter at that demand. Will made a face. “It’s not funny!” 

“My apologies, Will, but it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” Jem said through peals of laughter. He too made his way back to shore. He splashed at the duck as he went. Between his and Cecily’s splashing, the duck seemed to decide that it was not worth following them and paddled back out to the open water. 

Will breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, I think we’re done here. Let’s go before it comes back,” he said, yanking on his t-shirt inside out in his haste, and going to untie the horses. “And quit laughing already!”


	36. Chapter 36

Three days passed in the same fashion. Will, Jem and Cecily would get up, have breakfast and then spend the day outdoors. Jem’s favourite outing so far was when they took the horses and went up Cadair Idris.

It took them about two hours of leisurely riding, crossing pretty medows dotted with purple heather, little waterfalls and streams filled with mossy rocks, to reach the summit. From there, Jem could see beautiful glacier lakes nestled in small valleys, their deep blue standing out from the green grass and towering cliffs surrounding them. They sat and ate their sandwiches for lunch and dangled their legs in the cool clear water.

Will told Jem all the legends of the mountain – how some of the lakes were thought to be bottomless, how King Arthur imprisoned an afanc in one of the lakes, how the Celtic lord of the Underworld Gwyn ap Nudd made Cadair Idris his home and the hounds of Hell would emerge to drag people away. Even Cecily did not argue with her brother over these stories. She added to them by telling Jem how spooky everything could be when the mists suddenly rolled in.

The two siblings also pointed out some places where they did not swim and some paths they did not take, saying they were doorways into the mountain and the underworld. Jem accepted it all as true and followed their lead. Being immersed in the environment, he could not help but believe the tales of faeries and other worlds.

On the fourth day, Will awoke to find a very cloudy sky. He pulled a face in the direction of the window. They would have to stay in today. It was a special day, though. He hopped out of bed and went to wake Jem.

His friend had got used to the quiet by now and was sleeping in his proper bed. The last few days of outdoor activity had certainly been very good for him. He was sleeping better, eating more, breathing well, and had lost the sallow cast to his skin. Will was very pleased about that. Now, he entered the dark bedroom, making no effort to be quiet, and leaped onto Jem’s bed.

Jem woke with a yelp and flung his arm out, catching Will square in the face. “Ow!” Will exclaimed.

“Who’s there?” Jem called. 

“It’s me, idiot!” Will replied.

“Will?”

“Who else?”

“Kidnappers? Robbers? Ghosts?” Jem reached over to the bedside table and switched on the lamp. “What are you doing jumping on me? You almost scared me to death.”

“I’m pretty sure you can defend yourself, even if it were Gwyn ap Nudd himself,” Will said, rubbing his nose where Jem had hit him.

Jem chuckled. “Don’t sneak up on someone whom you know knows self-defence,” he retorted.

“It’s a big day today,” Will said. “But it’s going to rain and all my plans are spoiled.”

“Why is it a big day?” Jem asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s Cecily’s birthday,” Will informed him. “The little terror becomes a teenager today. I had a nice outing all planned. But it’s going to rain. We’ll have to stay in. I don’t know what we can do.”

“We could just ask Cecy what she wants to do,” Jem suggested. Will grimaced but agreed.

The boys went downstairs. The first step of Will’s plan had been a nice breakfast in bed for his sister, with all her favourite things – streaky bacon, runny eggs, fried mushrooms and pancakes with lots of syrup and butter. Jem helped to carry a pot of tea and Cecily’s orange Winnie the Pooh mug.

Will barged into his sister’s room without bothering to knock. Once he entered, he began bellowing the birthday song at the top of his lungs. Jem joined in. Cecily woke up in fright then grinned from ear to ear when she saw them.

Will put the tray down on the bedside table. “Happy birthday, cariad!” he exclaimed enthusiastically and threw himself at his sister to give her a big hug. Surprisingly, Cecily did not resist. Jem stood by the side of the bed and grinned at the siblings. They may hate each other on normal days, but birthdays were special.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Will asked.

“Go out and swim!” Cecily immediately said.

Will frowned. “Sorry, but it’s going to rain.” Cecily’s smile fell. “How about we give Jem a tour of the house? He hasn’t seen it all yet. We could play explorers, like we used to.”

Cecily seemed agreeable to that and, after breakfast, the trio packed up backpacks and set off. Jem had already seen a lot of the house. However, the gloomy weather and the sound of the wind wailing through the house made it a different experience. Cecily decided not to turn on the lights and to navigate using torchlights. The darkness added an aura of adventure.

There were several rooms that Jem had not yet visited. They inspected each one carefully – some had nothing in them but an empty bookshelf or cupboard, others were full of old curios and junk.

Finally, they went up to the attic. It was stuffed full of old furniture and storage boxes. As they moved deeper into the attic, they passed first plastic boxes, then cardboard boxes, and then wooden chests. 

They navigated the maze of abandoned furniture and finally found a space that was big enough for them all to sit. It was cold in the attic, with the storm raging outside. They opened their backpacks and took out picnic mats, sleeping bags and quilts, and made themselves comfortable.

“Tell us a story, Will,” Cecily requested

Will was always ready to oblige when it came to literature. He was a good storyteller. He began the story, telling about a stormy day when a boy was trying to draw a map for his homework. The boy’s sister was playing and constantly interrupting him until, finally, the boy got so annoyed that he kicked over the tower his sister had been making. There was a flash of lightning and the boy found himself tumbling and falling through a roaring darkness.

The boy fell into an ocean and was rescued by fierce pirates. But then, as the pirates were interrogating him, they were attacked by a giant whale and their ship was swallowed. In the whale’s belly, they began to despair as the stomach juices began to slowly digest them – feet first.

Then, the boy found another copy of his map. He had to get to the Tower at the middle of it, because that was where the way back to his home lay. They fell through the map again and ended up in a desert where they were attacked by demons. The boy realised that the demons were sent by an evil force that was living in the Tower.

The boy thought that his adventure was like one of the crazy stories his sister liked to make up. And at the moment, his sister was indeed making one up, prompted by a mysterious Voice. His sister did not understand what was happening and was frightened, but the Voice told her that if she stopped making up the story, bad things would happen.

Cecily shivered and moved closer to Jem. She cuddled up to him and he instinctively put his arm around her.

Will went on telling the story. The brother escaped the desert demons and came to a city. He went to the city library where he knew he had to find a book that would lead them to the Tower. It seemed like an impossible task, as there were millions of books in there. But, the book found him. He opened it and found the map inside, and on the map was the Tower.

The brother studied the picture of the Tower. He could feel evil in it. He knew the Tower needed to be destroyed. So he tore the map up. The library shook. Books rained down, the stone ceiling began to buckle. The boy and his pirate companions tried to run out but they were stopped when a gaping chasm appeared in the ground. All three fell in. When they landed, they found themselves by the ruins of the Tower.

Meanwhile, the sister was getting worried. The Voice had disappeared and she did not know how the story should go. She only knew that she had to finish the story and get her brother back. She knew her brother needed a tower. So she began to build one with her books and toys.

The Tower was restored. The boy entered and began exploring. He climbed higher and higher, though he seemed to be getting nowhere. At least, he came to a door, opened it and was confronted with a fire-breathing dragon. It towered over the boy and its bronze-coloured scales shone like polished armour. The boy pulled a sword from somewhere and fought bravely until he killed the dragon.

Behind the dragon was a door. The boy went in and found himself a huge room. Inside were countless mirrors, through which were seen different worlds. The boy searched long and hard until he finally found his own world and he stepped through.

“Then, he got back home?” Cecily asked eagerly. She had been clutching at Jem’s arm for the past hour as Will told the story.

“Yes, he got back home. His sister said: ‘You’re back then?’ And he said: ‘Yes, I’m back.’ And he went back to his homework, but this time, he drew a completely different map. The end,” Will concluded. His two listeners applauded enthusiastically.

“Were you frightened, Cecy?” Jem asked kindly.

“Little bit,” Cecily admitted. “It’s spooky up here.” Jem gave her a squeeze round her shoulders.

“So, it’s still your birthday, what else do you want to do?” Willl asked.

“How about presents?” Cecily suggested.

“My present is being nice to you for a whole day,” Will immediately said. Cecily stuck her tongue out at him. Will did not retaliate.

“I didn’t know it was your birthday. I haven’t gotten you anything,” Jem admitted. “What would you like?”

Cecily’s eyes were gleaming with wicked eagerness. “I want you to give me a kiss.”


	37. Chapter 37

“You want a kiss?” Jem repeated, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

“Yes,” Cecily said. “A nice one. On the lips.”

Jem looked over to Will for help. Will felt nauseous. “Cecy, he’s got a girlfriend,” he said.

“So?” she asked. “It’s not cheating if we’re not going out. I’ve always wondered what kissing is like.”

“Cecily, this is stupid. You can’t just ask anyone to give you a kiss,” Will said, flailing his hands around in an attempt to drive home his point.

“Jem’s not ‘anyone’,” Cecily said. “Please,” she turned to Jem and pleaded. She turned back to Will: “Or would you rather my first kiss be with some random bloke staying at the hotel, like you?” Will choked in horror.

“What happened?” Jem asked.

“Three years ago, Will decided he was in love with a girl who was staying at the hotel and they made out ‘round by the boat house, and her parents caught them and hauled him off by the ear. Mam and Dad weren’t half mad,” Cecily gleefully informed him.

“I thought we agreed we were never going to mention that again,” Will said.

“No, we didn’t,” Cecily rebutted. She turned to Jem. “Well, what about it?”

“This is making me feel rather uncomfortable,” Jem said. Again, he looked over at Will, and Cecily misinterpreted his gesture.

“Will, go away,” she ordered.

Will threw in the towel. “Fine! Do what you want. If anyone wants me, I’ll be in my room,” he said. He got up, gathered his things and stalked out. He half expected Jem to call after him, but there was silence.

He went back to his room, as he said he would, and seethed. He was aware that Cecily fancied Jem. He knew that Jem knew it and was trying not to encourage it. Indeed, Will had not seen Jem do anything to suggest that his feelings for Cecily were anything but platonic and familial. But he had clearly underestimated the lasting power of a pre-teen crush.

In an attempt to distract himself from what may or may not be currently happening between his sister and his best friend, Will sat on his bed jammed on his headphones and turned on rock music loud. He had a drum set in a music room in this house, but he was not in the mood to leave his room. So, he just picked up his drumsticks and hammered away at various parts of his bed frame.

After a few hours, his phone rang and his mother told him to come down for dinner. Jem and Cecily were already at the table, and he slid into place next to Jem. “You went outside. You smell like the outside,” Will noted.

“Cecily and I went for a walk,” Jem said.

Will was burning to know what had actually happened, but he also was reluctant to find out. Thankfully, he was spared further conversation with Jem as his parents entered the dining room with a large strawberry cake laden with lit candles. The family sang the birthday song to Cecily, gave her presents and then tucked into a delicious pasta dinner.

After dinner, Mrs Herondale requested Will to help clean up the wrapping paper from Cecily’s presents and to help Agatha take out the trash, as Cyril was away running errands. It took Will about 15 minutes to do this, as Agatha took such a long time in throwing away everything that needed to be thrown.

Jem was back in his room by then. His door was slightly ajar, and Will pushed gently against it. His friend was sitting on the floor with his vibrating vest on. As usual, violin music was playing from his phone. He smiled when he saw Will come in.

“How’s it going?” Will asked, sitting down next to Jem.

“Same old,” Jem said. He coughed a little as he spoke and Will looked at him in concern. “I’m fine,” Jem assured him. “The vest is shaking up everything inside, so it’s a bit annoying.”

“Okay,” Will agreed. He lapsed into silence. The topic of Cecily was a huge elephant in the room. Will felt supremely awkward. He stood and walked to the door. Jem looked at him in surprise.

“You’re going already?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Will said. He quickly invented an excuse. “You look tired. I probably shouldn’t disturb you.”

“Will…” Jem sighed. He got up and sat on the bed. He patted the quilt as a sign that Will should sit too. Will shut the door and obeyed. “Will, I didn’t kiss Cecily,” Jem said straight out. Will felt a huge sensation of relief at that. “I didn’t feel that that was the right thing to do. We talked. I told her she shouldn’t go around and flirt with every boy that comes her way, that she needed to respect herself, as it were, and wait for the right person.”

“You had The Talk with her,” Will concluded.

Jem blushed. “Not quite The Talk. I didn’t get to the physical aspect of things,” he said. “But you get my point. She’s just a kid. She doesn’t know what she wants. She thinks intimacy means being loose with boys, and she thinks that throwing herself at boys will make them love her. She’s messed up like you, Will. I think Ella’s death hit her hard too. Were they close?”

“Sure,” Will answered. “Cecy adored Ella. Followed her around everywhere, wanted to be exactly like her when she grew up. You know the type. So you two spent the whole day talking in the attic?”

“Heavens, no,” Jem said. “After I talked her out of kissing, we went down to her room. She said Ella used to play with her and braid her hair, so I thought I’d give it a go. We played with her dolls until the rain stopped, then we went for a walk. She showed me the cats and the baby chicks. You should be kinder to her, Will. She’s aching for someone to love her.”

“Of course I love her!” Will objected. “She’s my sister.”

“That’s what I told her,” Jem continued. “She said you probably love her but you don’t seem to like her very much. She said it’s been hard to talk to you this past year. Every time she tried, you both ended up quarrelling. It didn’t seem like you had time for her or wanted her around. And you always call her a little nuisance.”

“She said that?” Will asked in shock.

“Well, not in so many words,” Jem admitted. “I know you’re teasing but I think it hurts her sometimes. So, ease off with the name calling too.”

Will leaned against the bed post and thought about this. There was only one way to sort this out. He hopped off the bed and headed for the door.

“Will?” Jem inquired.

“I’m going to go talk to Cecy. I guess that’s my job as big brother,” he said. “Wish me luck.”

“Why would you need luck?” Jem asked.

“So I won’t muck it all up,” Will said. “You’ll have to pick up the pieces if that happens.”

“I’ll be on Cecily’s side,” Jem said slyly. 

“Traitor!”

“Just go!”

Will left Jem’s room and went to his sister’s room next door. Knowing what he now did, the “No Will allowed” sign felt like a slap in the face. He knocked and waited till Cecily opened the door.

“What do you want?” she asked defensively. 

“I was just talking to Jem,” Will began, “And I think I need to talk to you now. Can I come in?” 

She stood back from the door and let him in. Cecily’s room had cream-coloured walls and frills everywhere, a remnant from her earlier childhood years. At the moment, she had her stuffed toys on the rug in front of the radiator and they were all arranged in a circle.

“What’re you playing?” Will asked.

“We were just hanging out,” Cecily said. “What do you want, Will?”

Will shuffled from one foot to the other. He put his hands in his pockets then took them out again. “Listen,” he began, “You know you can always come to me, right? If you have any problems or anything? I’m here for you.”

“I guess,” she said slowly.

“It’s true,” Will insisted. “I know I’m a horrible big brother. You should know better than to take me too seriously.” Cecily was standing with her hands crossed defensively at her waist now, impatiently waiting for him to make his point. “Anyway,” Will continued. “You’re my sister. I love you. I don’t want you to feel like you’re all alone. Just come to me, if you need me, okay?”

“You’re weird,” Cecily informed him. “But, thanks. I’ll keep all that in mind.”

Will nodded awkwardly. “Anything you want to tell me? Just right off the bat? Anything you’re bursting to say?”

“No. Just shut up and go away,” Cecily said. “It’s even weirder when you’re acting like you care.”

“I do care!” 

“I know! You’ve said that. Just go back to being my annoying big brother. This is really weird.” Cecily came up to him and physically pushed him out of her room and shut her door.

Will stood in the hallway and shook his head. He never understood girls, and his sister was the one he understood least, and would probably never understand.


	38. Chapter 38

The day before Jem was due to return home was an exciting one for the boys. It was the day when their GCSE examination results were released. Since neither of the boys were in London to physically collect their examination slips at their schools, they were given the option to access their results electronically.

So, that morning, Will and Jem sat in front of the computer and waited for the appointed time. Will went first and typed in his student ID number and password. His results appeared. They weren’t too bad. He scored mostly Bs this time, with some Cs scattered in.

“This is good enough for sixth form, isn’t it?” he asked Jem. 

“I suppose,” his friend replied. “But isn’t your school really posh? Wouldn’t they want top grades?”

Will frowned. “You’re right; I didn’t think of that. But they can’t kick me out! Where would I go to do my A levels?”

“My school?” Jem asked. He reached over and logged Will out of the system and typed in his own student ID number. Will was unsurprised to see that Jem had straight As.

“We should switch schools,” Will joked. “Look at your results! You’re not human, Jem. Who gets As for everything?” 

“Apparently me,” Jem replied. He was still staring at the computer. His lips were pressed tightly together, like he was trying to suppress his joy.

Will saw it and said: “Go on, smile, celebrate. You did really well.”

“You’re not put out at me?” Jem asked.

“Why on earth would I be?” Will retorted. “I hate studying. It’s a wonder I passed anything. You, however, worked really hard to get all your As. You deserve it. I’m not upset or jealous. In fact, I’m really happy for you.”

Jem’s smile widened. “Thanks, Will. That means a lot.”

Will clapped him on the back. “Come on, let’s go swimming to celebrate.”

Jem had grown fond of swimming ever since his first dip. He was better at it now, and could almost keep up with Will and Cecily. They walked down to the lake this time, and ran the last few metres, racing to see who could get undressed and jump in first. Cecily won because she cheated by wearing a dress that zipped up and she could easily throw off. Jem got tangled in his t-shirt and was last in.

“Hurry up, slow poke!” Will shouted at him. “Don’t you know your way around a t-shirt?”

“Evidently, I still have a lot of learning to do,” Jem called back, having finally freed himself from the shirt. He waded into the lake and struck out to reach the deeper water where Will and Cecily were. Will splashed him when he approached. “Hey!” he protested.

“Let’s play Marco Polo!” Cecily announced. “Will’s Marco.”

The boys agreed. Will closed his eyes, counted to 10 and then shouted “Marco!” To his left, he heard Jem call “Polo”. Somewhere behind him, Cecily yelled “Polo!”

He knew his sister well enough to know that if she yelled that loud, it was to trick him into thinking she was close enough for him to catch, when she was actually far away. He decided to go for Jem. As he did so, he heard his friend splashing away. He pursued his quarry. “Marco!” he called.

“Polo!” Jem said, ahead of him.

“Polo!” Cecily was still where she had been.

Will heard Jem splash again and he pounced. But he met with empty water and very loud splashing and laughter. “Marco!”

“Polo!” Jem was farther away now. Will had not heard him move. He must’ve gone underwater. He sounded closer to Cecily’s position now. Will followed like a shark, swimming smoothly through the water.

“Why are you stalking me?” Jem protested. 

“You’re not supposed to talk!” Cecily scolded.

“Marco!” Will bellowed.

“Polo!” the others bellowed back. Jem was definitely close now. He could not clearly hear where Cecily was. He made a bee line for Jem. At the last second, he heard his friend move, and even felt the water splash when Jem kicked it.

“Stop moving and let me catch you!” Will swore. 

Jem just laughed. “Polo!” he taunted.

“I say Marco first!” Will objected. “Marco!”

“Polo!” Jem repeated.

“Wait, where’s Cecily?” Will asked when he did not hear her.

“I think she went underwater,” Jem said. “No! I’m not supposed to tell you that!” 

“You’re rubbish at games, Jem,” Will teased. He heard his friend splashing away again. “Marco!”

“Polo,” Jem panted.

“Quack quack!” 

Will shot away like a bullet when he heard that sound right in his ear. He opened his eyes and saw Cecily carrying a duck in her hands. Jem was at the side and hooting with laughter. 

Will burst into a loud and long stream of curses. “That’s not fair!” he declared. “You’re exploiting my weakness.”

“All’s far in war, you hurtyn gwirion,” Cecily grinned evilly. She threw the duck in the opposite direction and swam towards Will. “You’re too easy.”

“You wait till the next time you need me to help you do stuff, you bach diafol!” Will retorted. The two siblings began yelling at each other in Welsh. 

“Guys, please don’t fight,” Jem implored, swimming between them in an attempt to break up the argument. They both splashed him. He splashed back and all the tension disappeared as they had a water fight.

Jem was the first to give in and he swam back to the shore where he lay down in the shallows. Will and Cecily joined him soon after. He had a huge grin on his face, though there was a touch of bittersweetness to it. “I wish summer didn’t have to end,” he said. “I had so much fun this past week. I wish we could stay like this forever.”

“I wish so too,” Will said. “But, life goes on. School again in two weeks. Ugh.”

“I’m going to Westminster!” Cecily interjected. “I’m so excited.” Will stuck his tongue out at her.

Jem turned to Will. “I’ve got a surprise for you: I’m going to Westminster too.”

Will sat straight up. “What?” he asked in shock.

“My guidance counsellor said I needed to be challenged more,” Jem explained. “He recommended that I go to a different school for sixth form. Uncle and I discussed it, and we thought, why not your school? So, we put in an application.”

“You’re coming to my school?!” Will screeched in disbelief.

Jem’s smile fell. “Are you not happy? Don’t you want me there?”

“Are you mad? Of course I’m happy! I’m ecstatic! I’m overjoyed! I’m over the moon!” Will exclaimed, flailing his arms around in excitement. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“They said my admission was dependent on my GCSE results,” Jem said. “So, I thought I’d wait before telling you, just in case my results weren’t good and I couldn’t go after all.”

Will continued: “I thought I was going to have to endure until the weekend before I could hang out with you, but now I get to see you every day. This is the best news ever!”

“I’m glad,” Jem smiled. “I was afraid you didn’t want to see so much of me.”

“Will and Jem. Dynamic duo,” Will envisioned. “And our sidekick little sister,” he quickly added. “We’ll make such an impact on the school. I cannot wait for term to start now. It’s going to be amazing!”

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave comments and let me know what you think. :)


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